WEEK ENDING MARCH 25th 35p
QS Produce the most
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FchI the ruling aliens by
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and blasting out their home
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on your journey, seeking the
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Features: 4D, High sfDeed
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land G take-off from many
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levels, score & rating plus
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THE CHESS PLAYER ^
Who is he? Dare YOU challenge him? >
Risk high stakes and pit your wits j/
against the ckiess game with personality,
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THE CHESS PLAYER costs less. J/
while offering you more
skill booetrig enjoyment
Features 6 skill levels, analysis, copies
display and all moves to printer or
screen, colour orBSW display, save
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F*ersonality 6i speech
SPEAKEASY
Add speech or music to you programs'
In re sfxxise to massive demand, we itave
released SPf ak f A
and enjoyment
Smply record you r sound onto a
cassette and play it into your Spectrum
via load The signal may then he edited
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MENU
CHARACTER SET
Editorial
Editor
Cyndy Miles
Production editor
Keith Parish
Sub-editor
Peter Worlock
News editor
Margaret Coffey
News writers
David Guest
Wcndic Pearson
Software editor
Shirley Fawcett
Systems editor
Max Phillips
Hardware editor
Richard King
Peripherals editor
Ian Scales
Feature and Micropaedia editor
Geof Wheelwright
Listings editor
Sandra Grandison
Editor’s assistant
Harriet \moLi
Art director
Jim Dansie
Art editor
Jimmy Egerton
Art assistant
Dolores Fairman
Publishing manager
Fiona Collier
Advertising
Advertisement manager
Mark Eiscn
Assistant advertisement manager
Nic Jones
Senior sales executive
Sue Hunter
Sales executives
Robert Stallibrass
Matthew Parrott
Bettina Williams
Simon Treasure
lan Whorlcy
Sarah Barron
Production manager
Brian Humphrey
Microshop production
Eva Wroblewska
Advertisement assistant
Jenny Dunne
Subscription enquiries
Simon Maggs
Subscription address
53 Frith Street
London W1 A 2HG
01-439 4242
Editorial address
62 Oxford Street
London W1 A 2HG
01-6366890
Advertising address
62 Oxford Street
London W1 A 2HG
01-323 3211
Published by
VNU Business Publications
Evelyn House
62 Oxford Street
London W1 A 2NG
© VNU 1983. No material may be
reproduced in whole or in part
without written consent from the
copyright holders. Typeset by
Quickset. 184- 186 Old Street.
London EC1 . Printed by Chase
Web Offset. St Austell. Cornwall.
Distributed by Seymour Press, 334
Brixton Road, London SW9,
01-733 4444.
PCN SPECIALS
PCN’s Paperchase 1!J
Second leg in the race for a BBC . . . four
Model Bs up for grabs.
Coleco Exclusive 27
Full preview of the little machine with
lots of promise.
Psion Vs CP 31
Tales of woe and bad luck as a brace of
Spectrum programs brings the
backgammon blues.
Nursery End 32
Find out what kids are getting their hands
on these days.
PCN PRO TESTS
Software
Does Spectrum's new
35
spreadsheet rate against the 'Calcs?
Colourful plot to boost IBM
38
graphics.
BBC word processing on the
40
cheap.
Hardware
Full hands on the heavy metal
42
Toshiba T100.
Full fingers on the latest pocket
48
Casio.
Peripherals
Stacking up the memory with
51
ZXSl's amazing tower of power.
We hear the Vic's got a lot o'gottle
54
Gameplay
Join Diane Keaton and a cast of
59
thousands on the Apple.
Travel through time and space
60
on the ZX81.
Help Horace, the home-fun
61
hero, through new scrapes on the
Spectrum.
c j ' > j
REGULARS
Monitor
New Dragon hot from the valleys, page 2;
Acorn keeps costs down for BBC users
but spells out the price of its Econet, page
3; why add-ons for the Jupiter Ace are
late, page 4; Join the search for the
Sinclair Microdrive, page 5 . . . plus
reports and pictures on these seven pages
of all the latest news.
Random Access 17
You send ’em . . . well print 'em — and
pay £10 for the letter of the week.
Readout 18
To buy or not to bother . . . PCN answers
the question in reviews of the latest
books.
Routine Inquiries 22
Max (fix-it) Phillips leaves no micro
unturned in his regular help spot. Just
dump your baffles on him.
Microwaves 25
£5 tip? That's what we pay for every
helpful hint.
Clubnet 56
Places to go; people to meet. Check it out
in our week-by-week guide to clubs and
user groups.
Datelines 56
Days to remember in our list of coming
events, both home and abroad.
PCN ProgramCards 63
Cut out and keep new programs for your
Spectrum and BBC. Unique listings that
you build into a handy software library.
Databasics 73
All you need to know about software in
this easy-to-follow buyer's guide.
PCN Billboard 83
Free reader's advertisements — swop,
sell or buy.
PCN MAR 18. 1983
1
PCN MONITOR
Dragon Data hatches
a successor to 32
By David Guest
A new Dragon is about to
emerge from the Welsh val-
leys, and if it doesn’t breathe
fire it should at least be col-
ourful.
Dragon Data is intent on
keeping you in the dark for the
time being but managing
director Fred Clark isn't deny-
ing that the new system will
be a 16-bit machine running
MS-DOS. It is also likely to
have twin disk drives, and a
colour monitor will be avail-
able.
‘We don’t have a release
date at the moment,' said Mr
Clark. ‘We will talk about the
system when we have it up and
running.’
The heart of the new
Dragon 32: the forerunner to a bigger, better version?
machine is likely to be an 8086 Dragon Data is particularly
processor, and the colour evasive. Asked if £1,200
screen is expected to be a 14in sounded reasonable Mr Clark
model which will be supplied by said: ‘For £1,200 it won't have
Microvitec. a colour screen and two disk
On the question of price drives.'
Vic packages
with your LPs
You should soon be able to
buy educational software for
your Vic-20 through your local
record shop. Commodore-
approved software house Ivan
Berg has arranged to make its
educational software available
off the shelf.
The first products to be sold
through these outlets are Ivan
Berg's GCE/CSE revision
programs together with its
BBC Mastermind, Quizmas-
ter. Vic Road User and
Robert Carrier Menu Planner
packages. They cost £9.90.
‘Our view is that this is
where the future of software
will be,’ says the company’s
managing director Ivan Berg.
it will go the same way as
records and tapes.'
For details of your nearest
stockist, Ivan Berg Software is
on 01-328 3341.
Startech boldly goes for
Commodore’s US software
Numbers
on the IBM
The new super-spreadsheet
program for the IBM PC has
made it across the Atlantic.
Called 1-2-3 it is produced
by Lotus Software and is avail-
able from Personal Computers
in London for £400.
In addition to handling
‘what if type questions the
program can translate spread-
sheet information into a
graphical representation and
generate reports. By using a
second monitor it is possible to
display the spreadsheet and
graphs simultaneously.
‘It is what Visicalc should
have been,’ says Stuart Lakey,
director of Personal Compu-
ters. ‘A particularly impressive
feature is the help screens.
‘If you run into difficulty you
just hit the “help” button and
up comes a help screen direct-
ly related to the routine you
are working on.'
Although designed to run
on the IBM PC and Compaq
portable lookalike. it is
thought that Lotus is working
on versions to run on other
MS-DOS machines.
So far it can only be bought
through Personal Computers
which has the product in stock.
Tel: 01-377 1200.
You can now get elusive Com-
modore software for the Vic-
20 and 64 in the UK.
Startech, a Liverpool-based
software house and one of the
UK's biggest importers of US
software, has set up a separate
division specialising in prog-
rams for the Vic-20 and Com-
modore 64.
A large shipment of Com-
modore 64 games cassettes is
expected from the US this
week, and will retail for
around £15 a game.
Vic-20 cartridge games are
already dribbling in from the
US — 16 are available, for
between £23.95 and £27.
Business software for this
model will arrive this week.
ViCalc, a small spreadsheet
program, is £10.95 while the
ViCat database sells for £17.95.
Games for the Commodore
64 are Adventure Packs 1 and
2, which are multilevel
“dungeon and dragon” type
games.
All are available direct from
Startech which can be reached
on 051-727 7267.
Tiny Word at
low cost for
the Newbrain
IBM’s new plans: all
Peanut and Popcorn?
Newbrain users now have
another word processing pack-
age for their machine.
Launched by Kuma, Tiny
Word will be available from
Newbrain stockists including
Lasky's Curry’s and more than
100 smaller high street outlets
this week, at £24.50.
The package has screen edit-
ing and 16 editor commands.
The newcomer joins pack-
ages from Brainwave Software
at £25 and Elstree Computer
Centre at £40.25 for the New-
brain.
You can expect two new per-
sonal computers from IBM be-
fore the end of the year.
The multinational may have
been slow to get into the per-
sonal computer business but it
is making up for lost time. The
XT joined the PC last week,
and IBM is expected to launch
machines on either side of this
pair to offer you a range of
hardware.
For anybody who regards
almost £3,000 as a pretty pen-
ny for a PC, the smaller of the
new systems should be a
pleasant surprise. It is ex-
pected to sell in the US for less
than $1,000 — and one US
source puts the price as low as
$600.
Members of the dedicted
band known as 'IBM watchers’
are predicting that this micro-
PC, code-named Peanut, will
be strictly for home uses. It
will be, they say, a more eco-
nomically packaged version of
the original PC with a small
keyboard and less memory.
and should appear in October.
At the other end of the scale
the larger machine will be a
multi-user, multi-tasking sys-
tem. It may be based on a
higher performance processor
than the 8088. Known as PC-2,
or Popcorn, it is expected later
than its tiny cousin.
Nor do IBM's plans end
with the PC line. The good old
3278 terminal could become a
micro in its own right with the
provision of add-ons.
IBM had no comments.
2
PCN MAR25.1983
MONITOR
BBC s big one — System Mve dual drive, major rue server tor tconei
Count to ten
to use Econet
ACT’s portable: Apricot
conies to fruition
By Geof Wheelwright
Unless you have ten machines
or more, you can forget about
running Acorn's Econet local
area networking system on
your BBC micros.
It will cost you more to run
five BBCs on the Econet sys-
tem sharing one dual disk
drive than if you equipped
each machine with its own disk
drive.
Acorn spokesman Lawrence
Hardwick claims that the sys-
tem was never supposed to be
cost effective for small con-
figurations.
i wholly expect that anyone
using Econet will realistically
have ten stations or more/
said Mr Hardwick.
The limited effectiveness of
Econet is largely due to its
design. As it currently stands.
you must tie up at least two
machines in the network — at
a cost of about £9(X) — simply
to run the file server and prin-
ter server programs.
The Econet system will cost
about £50 per machine to hook
up. Then you must buy the
terminators, clock and cable to
link the system together and a
file server program to run the
system. By the time all that is
purchased for four machines,
you would have spent £750.
Acorn says it hopes to adapt
the printer servers to run on
the same machine that handles
the file server, so that only one
machine need be tied up.
The System Five major file
server system can also be used
with Econet, but it costs more
than twice the price of the dual
disk drive system.
After the Apple from the
US and the Peach from Japan,
the UK Apricot is on its way.
The Apricot, from ACT, is
built around an 8086 chip with
an 8089 input/output processor
and an optional 8087 maths
processor. It will have two
V/ 2 in floppy disk drives and a
9in screen.
The system will run MS/
DOS version 2.0, as on IBM's
XT.
ACT, with its background in
bureau services and software
production, will supply some
\ applications and communica-
tions software. Like any self-
respecting Apricot, it will be
portable.
Fresh Apricots should be on
the shelves of your local store
from June. What they'll cost
has not yet been determined,
but an ACT spokesman prom-
ised that it would be less than
the £2,750 of the Sirius, which
ACT also markets.
Anything
disk can do
Ikon do too
Help is on the way for BBC
users whose budgets won't
stretch to disk drives but feel
their style is cramped (and
temper frayed) by tedious and
unreliable cassette storage.
Apparently non-tedious and
reliable storage is on the way
in the form of the Hobbit — a
60K per side tape system from
Ikon Computer Products.
This is ACT’s first venture
in micro design and produc-
tion. It brought in hardware
expertise from electronic en-
gineers QED to round off the
package.
It will aim to be producing
2,000 systems a month by the
end of the year at a new factory
in Scotland.
ACT has developed the
Apricot independently of Vic-
tor Technologies, the US
manufacturer of the Sirius. It
claims that Apricot will not
compete with Sirius while at
the same time Victor may build
the Apricot under licence in the
US.
ACT managing director
Roger Foster is reported to
have described the develop-
ment as a ‘bold step'.
It is also a logical step for
ACT. From its origins as a
computer bureau it has de-
veloped into a supplier of most
computer products.
The Hobbit reads and writes
at 750 bytes per second and its
winding mechanisms are com-
pletely controlled by the com-
puter.
The device is claimed to
require no special interface
and is compatible with all ver-
sions of the BBC operating
system.
The system supports BBC
commands and brings a few of
its own on an EPROM which
is plugged into one of the
spare sockets on the BBC.
• Personal Computer News
will soon be featuring a Pro Test
of the Hobbit.
PCN THREEBIES OFFER
Make your
Torch into a
BBC for £25
For the princely sum of £25
you can plug a ROM chip into
your Torch to use programs
and files designed for an
Acorn BBC micro.
The ROM should enable
you to load and store BBC
programs on the Torch, and it
will put BBC files at your
disposal. In effect it runs the
disk filing systems of both
machines in parallel.
As a result. Torch says, its
users will be given a wider
choice. And features of the
BBC machine, particularly its
file handling, will be per-
formed more efficiently.
‘We are getting Acorn's disk
filing system on a royalty basis
and putting hooks into it,' said
Torch's Ray Anderson. So
both 40- and 80-track disks
can be handled, although the
restrictions of the BBC filing
system apply — 31 files per
disk or 31 files per surface.
But running under CP/M
offsets some of the limitations
where efficiency is concerned.
Torch claims.
The Torch system is basical-
ly an elaborately packaged
BBC micro, so correspond-
ences between the two are
hardly surprising. But Torch,
with CPN, the CP/M look-
alike, has moved in a different
direction.
Welcome to week two of the PCN
Threebies Offer. Already our pub-
lisher is worrying.
So many of you have saved your
PCN Threebies Offer coupon from
issue one, that it looks as if he is
going to have to give away
thousands of crisp, green, one
pound notes.
Keep up the good work. You now
have two coupons, so you are two
thirds of the way there.
Just to remind you. all you have
to do is collect the PCN Threebies
Offer coupons from issues one. two
and three of Personal Computer
News , and we will send you £1.00
absolutely free. Remember
though, absolutely no photocopies
and only one claim per household.
Make sure you get next week's
issue of PCM to get coupon number
three, and to find out how to claim
No replies can be accepted from
anyone who has any connection with
the publishing, printing or distribu-
tion of this magazine.
jftiree Jacks
P* 50 incJudrng
CLARES NP
ids Road. Winsford. Cheshire CW7 4AX
Tel: 06065 51374
k T199 4A
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[ Tel: 06065 51374
PCN MAR25.1983
85
PCN MONITOR
VIEW FROM JAPAN
Japanese
prepare for
the invasion
You can expect a lot more Japanese machines in the shops this
year.
It’s no secret that the Japanese have been busy selling personal
computers at home for some time. Last year alone sales doubled to
650,000.
But it may not be quite so well known that there are at least 70
firms already competing for the spoils of Japan's crowded domestic
market.
It is largely because of this heated domestic competition that
some 20 Japanese manufacturers are even now preparing to take
their machines abroad.
That should be good for the average user. Japan's forays into the
UK to date have not revealed that country's best machines.
In true Oriental fashion most companies have made only
cautious moves in your direction. They tested the market first by
selling their displays, disk drives and printers under Western
names through agreements with Western companies.
Even those companies that have released machines in the UK
have generally sent their older, poorer-performance machines out
first.
Now the companies are planning to send the machines that have
been selling big in Japan to this country. So you can expect to see
the PC 8800 Series that Nippon Electric (NEC) introduced last
year, as well as the PC 9800 Series that it introduced this year.
Fujitsu’s new Micro 1 6 and the Sanyo M BC 200 Series also ought to
be making their way to your shores soon.
Brother will be going to the Hanover Fair in April to launch a
range of low cost printers that should be available in the UK in
August or September.
At the bottom end of the range will be the EP-22, a dot-matrix
printer that can also be used as a portable typewriter. It features a
16-character, one-line display and comes with 2K memory and
either a serial or Centronics interface. It will be priced at around
£175.
For around the same price. Brother will be offering the HR5, a
bi-directional printer with a 9x9 dot matrix printhead. In addition
the company will be bringing out a daisywheel printer, the HR 15,
that will be competitively priced at under £500.
That could result in a round of major price cuts, not to mention
machines that offer better performance at lower prices. It could
also make a trip to your local computer shop a dizzying experience
for the novice buyer.
The impending invasion could also be a boon for software
suppliers. The Japanese are weak at producing software and even
now many companies are looking to UK and European specialists
for help.
Epson, for one, is openly seeking European software houses,
and hiring Europeans, to help write software and support its
machines.
Double vision on the oriental screen
;se are different. There has to be
. o account for their startling national
Jupiter’s new machine
leaves Ace users cold
Jupiter Cantab is working on a
new machine — which may
explain why users are still
waiting for add-ons for the
Jupiter Ace.
Jupiter is believed to have a
prototype working based on the
Z80 chip with high resolution
colour graphics, 48K of mem-
ory, Prestel compatibility with
an 80-column mode and a
built-in modem.
But news of a new machine
does not excite users of the Ace
who have been waiting since
October for their expansion
boards.
it’s a sore point,' said John
Noyce who runs the Jupiter Ace
Users Group.
‘Jupiter has been promising
all sorts of things. In particular
we would like to see the printer
board,' he said.
Jupiter maintains that the
add-ons will be out soon.
‘The printer board will be
available in a month or two,’
said Jupiter Cantab founder
Steven Vickers. The 16K and
48K RAM packs should be out
in the next two weeks.'
But Mr Vickers was cagey
about details of the new
machine. ‘There are no new
models that we are announcing
that we are working on,' he
said. 'But that's not to say that
we are not working on a new
model.’
if you look at the market it is
not unreasonable to think that
there is a gap in the market for a
Spectrum-like successor to the
Ace,' he added.
It is unlikely that the new
machine will be released for at
least six months.
Throw away your manual’
with Torch Operating Guide
MPI Software wants to come
between you and your beloved
Torch operating system.
Last week PCN got an exclu-
sive unveiling of the Operating-
Guide, a package designed to
let you access operating system
commands without having to
memorise them or keep your
manual constantly at hand.
In simple English (which is
what this program purports to
give you) the program trans-
lates CP/N (the Torch's opera-
ting system) commands and
allows you to access them
easily.
The Operating Guide was
originally written as a guide to
help people running programs
in CP/M, and has now been
rejigged to help on the Torch.
The program was written by
Decision Systems. The com-
pany claims it will make the user
manual obsolete for CP/M and
CP/N users.
Every time you need to use
CP/N utility, the menu-driven
program takes you through the
stages of the operation and lists
all the available file manage-
ment options.
The system also has a feature
that tells you when you need to
back-up the main Operating
Guide program so it doesn’t go
down.
There is no manual for the
Operating Guide as all the
instructions are menu-driven
and it will sell for about £45.
MPI can be reached at 01-591
6511.
itry at the moment might suggest it's
ched the X-1PC colour TV, which
levision signals to let you write and
rv.
idling Coronation Street through a
demic question at the moment; the
- Is that Sharp can barely keep pace .
(),(XX) a month.
arance in the UK towards the end of
From George Faas
TORCH
Easy access to the Torch’s operating system —thanks to MPI Software
PCN MAR25. 1983
PCN MONITOR
Spectrum Microdrives:
late f later, latest
By Ian Scales
TTie Sinclair Microdrive, first
announced in April 1982 as an
imminent storage peripheral
for the ZX Spectrum, is still not
in sight. That, as everyone with
a calendar knows, makes it
nearly a year late.
Sinclair is still determined to
remain mysterious about the
drive. The company claims that
premature release of technical
details will jeopardise the pro-
duct’s advantage over its rivals.
So. management refuses to
make any promises about a
release date.
This is despite the fact that
the Microdrive design has been
frozen and the company claims
it is simply waiting for ship-
ments of custom chips so pro-
duction can get under way.
The latest information from
Sinclair is that design improve-
ments are said to have margi-
nally bettered the access time of
3.5 seconds previously claimed .
The Microdrive interface will
cost £30 while each drive will
now cost £40. Up to eight
drives can be chained together
— each with a capacity of
slightly more than 100K.
Those of you who bought the
Spectrum by mail order when it
was first announced will be
offered the drives first.
Sinclair says this will serve as
part-compensation to those
who had to wait long periods for
Spectrum deliveries. Of course
it also enables the company to
determine the eventual take-up
rate.
Home-grown
is no cheaper
It isn’t just American micros
that cost more in the UK. Our
own products often sport higher
price tags in the UK.
Apparently it’s not the trip
across the Atlantic that hikes up
the price. Timex, the US com-
pany that acquired the US
rights to the ZX81 and Spec-
trum. is presently allowing its
version of the ZX81 to be
discounted by retailers to as
little as S53 (£36).
A lower price for the US
version of the Spectrum is also
considered likely because of the
pricing of competing ‘low end’
brands from Commodore and
Texas Instruments.
MEM/DOS:
Le Crunch
for Apple?
Apple users with a taste for the
exotic can now sample a French
operating system.
Guernsey software house
Dynatech Microsoftware has
introduced MEM/DOS to the
UK . This £299 package sells at a
rate of 400 copies a month
across the Channel.
MEM/DOS for the Apple
possible with the normal
PCN Charts
You’re right . . . gremlins got into the system last week and rendered PCN
Charts at best intriguing, more likely incomprehensible. But here they are
again — with full explanation.
PCN ('harts follow the rise and fall of the UK’s hest-selling micros. This
fortnightly top-of-the-shops list tells you what’s selling best over the
counter; it does not take account of mail order. The figures show the
number of machines sold in a two-week period ending two weeks before
publication date (in this case March 18), so today’s tells the story in high
streets between February 18 and March 4.
The machine prices quoted are for the no-frills models and include N AT.
Information for the PCN ( harts has been culled from retailers throughout
the country and compiled by MKIB, London. They will be updated every
alternate week ... so watch for the ups and downs in next week’s PCN!
Dynatech claims that this is
because the French version has
a number of advantages over
Apple DOS. MEM/DOS
comes in the form of a card that
slots into the back of your
system. Since it uses screens or
masks to take over input and
output functions, Dynatech
claims it enables you to prog-
ram 20 times faster than is
system.
It makes a split screen possi-
ble; it frees memory by residing
on a card; and it regards disk
space as one continuous area.
MEM/DOS offers the choice
of 40 or 80 columns on the
screen.
For multi-user operations a
communications interface card
will be needed, costing £299.
Summer scramble over 2.0
Expect a rash of upgrades this
summer as micro makers start
to include version 2.0 of the
MS-DOS operating system in
their machines.
The new version will give you
support for Fixed disk opera-
tions. extended screen and
keyboard controls, batch-type
operations, and other features
designed to make your life
easier.
Microsoft, the US producer
of MS-DOS, has already sup-
plied version 2.0 to its existing
customers — a list which in-
cludes DEC, Wang. Hitachi.
NEC, Victor and others. The
new version made its debut last
week in the launch of IBM's PC
XT.
In detail, the additional fea-
tures of version 2.0 are: general
support for fixed disks includ-
ing back-up and restore com-
mands; it can be started from
diskette or fixed disk; tree
structured directories, a file
recovery utility and a batch
command language are in-
cluded; multiple disk input/
output buffers; room for the
addition of user-installed de-
vice drivers; optional verify
after write; piping, where the
output from one program be-
comes the input to another;
redirected I/O; and a back-
ground file print utility.
A Microsoft spokesman said:
‘You can't buy it direct, it will
come on the machine you buy
and it is up to the manufacturer
to provide support.'
Top Twenty up to £1,000
1
BBC Model B
£399
(AC)
2
Sinclair ZX81
£50
(SI)
3
Newbrain AD
£299
(OR)
4
Commodore Vic-20
£170
(CO)
5
Acorn Atom
£174
(AC)
6
Apple II
£776
(AP)
7
Sinclair Spectrum 16K
£125
(SI)
8
Atari 800
£400
(AT)
9
Atari 400
£160
(AT)
10
Commodore 64
£345
(CO)
11
Dragon 32
£200
(DR)
12
Jupiter Ace
£90
(JU)
13
Texas TI99
£150
(TE)
14
Colour Genie
£224
(LO)
15
Oric 1
£100
(OR)
16
Sharp MZ80A
£549
(SH)
17
Commodore 500
£799
(CO)
18
Tandy TRS (C/C)
£240
(TA)
19
Epson HX20
£472
(EP)
20
Commodore 4016
£632
(CO)
Top Ten over £1,000
1
Sirius 1
£2.754
(ACT)
2
Olivetti M20
£2,754
(OL)
3
Apple III
£2,780
(AP)
4
Osborne 1
£1,581
(OS)
5
HP86A
£1,541
(HP)
6
Commodore 710
£1,475
(CO)
7
Xerox 820
£2,415
(RX)
8
Superbrain II
£2,185
(IC)
9
Micro-Mimi 802
£1.720
(BM)
10
Sanyo MBC 1000
£1,195
(SA)
AC — Acorn Computers ACT ACT Computers AP Apple Computers AT -
Atari International BM British Micro. CO Commodore DR Dragon Data EP
— Epson 6R —Grundy Business HP -Hewlett-Packard 1C — Icarus Computers.
JU - Jupiter Cantab L0 — Lowe Electronics OL -Olivetti OR Orie OS —
Osborne Computers Corporation. RX — Rank Xerox. SA Sanyo Marubeni SH —
Sharp SI — Sinclair. TA Tandy . TE — Texas Instruments
PCN MAR25. 1983
5
IBM’s £5,000
personal micro
Out of sight — IBM’s new XT
As a personal computer the
IBM PC is rapidly disappear-
ing over the horizon.
The new. improved XT ver-
sion launched last week ( PCN ,
March 18) is virtually a mem-
ber of the business system
class — a machine that sets
you back almost £5,000 isn't
something that you'll buy out
of the petty cash.
But there is more to the XT
than meets the eye. The XT
has brought DOS version 2.0
along with it. The operating
system doesn't have the menu
facility that everybody had
been expecting but there are
tree-structured directories, a
batch command language, pip-
ing and other attractions.
The Basic 80 interpreter is
still the same old 8-bit oriented
relic but with support for
about 21Mb on the system it
seems churlish to dwell on the
Basic.
From the point of view of
storage, the XT is in a differ-
ent class from the original PC.
User memory starts at 128K,up
from 64K on the PC, and it can
be expanded to 640K.
On-line storage can include
two 5V4in fixed disks giving 10
Mb each, plus a new 360K
floppy.
IBM is offering expansion
units, one for PC owners to
boost their storage and one for
XT owners to double it. The
PC expansion unit has the 10
Mb drive, a disk drive adap-
tor, and a ROM replacement
kit to support fixed disks. It
costs £2,172.
The XT expansion kit costs
£1 ,978 and contains a 10MB disk
drive and eight expansion slots
for optional plug adaptors.
The disk drives have a 90
millisecond average access
time and can shunt data out at
five megabits a second.
The XT and expansion units
are expected to be in the shops
in early June. The minimum
system, with 128K for you to
play with and a 10MB disk,
will cost £4,858 plus VAT. A
larger system, with 256K user
memory and a second fixed
disk, will cost £7,126.
Prolog
for the
small
machine
Language buffs with a CP/M
machine can now experiment
with fifth generation language
Prolog.
Oxford software house Ex-
pert Systems has brought out a
full implementation of the lan-
guage that will run on any CP/M
machine with 64K. It costs
A compiler version to run on
68000 machines will be avail-
able later in the year.
Prolog differs from tradition-
al languages in the way pro-
grams are written.
‘Prolog is a language based
on logic*, explained Alex
Goodhall, managing director
of Expert Systems. ‘Rather
than listing the steps a compu-
ter has to go through to solve a
problem a Prolog program uses
a series of logical statements to
describe the problem. The lan-
guage then enables the compu-
ter to sort out how to solve it,’
he said.
PC price
bonus
from IBM
There is a bonus in the launch of
the IBM Personal Computer
XT. From now' on the original
PC will cost you less.
IBM cut the price of its
system units and disk drives by a
modest six percent.
The reduction on some
peripherals, however, was
much greater. A system unit
with a 160K diskette drive
comes down from £1,394 to
£1 ,31 1 ; with the 320K drive the
reduction is from £1,537 to
£1,461.
The 160K drive's price falls
from £264 to £180, and the
larger drive from £407 to £330.
The price reduction in the US
was closer to 15 per cent.
Portable Commodore
Commodore is preparing for a
full-scale attack on the UK
portables market.
The new SX-100 range con-
sists of three portables, one
with black and white display
and two with colour. Details are
still a bit sketchy, but it looks as
if they could be aimed directly
at the popular Osborne 1 .
Weighing in at 221b apiece,
the machines offer 64K. built in
5in monitor and floppy disk
drives holding 170-340K. de-
pending on the model.
The colour version looks like
better value for money than
others on the market. TTie UK
prices have not been set, but in
the US they will range from
$995 for a black and white
display with single disk drive, to
$ 1 ,495 for a colour display with
double disk drives.
The bad news is that the
launch date in the UK is still
uncertain, but we could be in for
a sneak preview in May.
TEXT MATCH — IS Pipeline enables you to insert graphs into reports, put
addresses into form letters and make multiple copies. K Is compatible with the
Apple or any Centronics interface and is expandable from 8 to 128K from £139.
From Pete and Pam Computers, 01-769 1022.
6
PCN MAR 25. 1983
MICROMESSAGE
NOT CHR$ LEN TAN ACS £ INT
TAN £ NOT PEEK £ SGN
CHR$ NOT
Free copy o* SHIVA-INFERNO
for the first human translator —
Send your answers to
f
1
VI
S'"
s W 1 1
s J
%
I s
THE CONFLICT GROUP
presents the synthesis of thought
and power in a package of
plasma hotter than the sun
IV
I""
f
x y
.S \ .v
\ \
>
J
% & % and faster than light.
% *** Using quantum leaps we
have bridged time and
space with kilometres of
tape and megatonnes of
paper: — Stoke Newington’s
FINEST HOUR!!!!!!!
SHIVA-INFERNO
ZX-81 SPECTRUM
Anarchy is rampant in Europe as the
forces of chaos collide in titanic
proportions. For the post-cruise gen-
eration on the pre-cruise computer
£5.95
TIME LORDS
BBC-B
Buy this game and we ll promise you
anything. Combat the enemies of
your race. Five beings control time
itself. History is not an eternal truth.
£7.95
MURDERBALL
Revitalise your cave man instincts,
mutilate your opponents, buy this
game. Space age football on roller-
skates — the Super Bowl has
nothing on this.
Board Game £14.95
Computer Moderator £6.95
TOP GAMES
JUDGE DREDD — The Perps — Mega City 1 — 2000
AD £7.50
APOCALYPSE — Nukes — Power — Devastation —
War £6.95
QUIRKS - Darwin — Evolution— Natural selection
£4.95
DUNGEONS & DRAGONS - Swords — Wizards
Monsters— Basic role-playing game £8.95
TRAVELLER — Laser — Space — Aliens — Role-
playing game £5.95
SQUAD LEADER — Infantry — Tank — WW1 1 — East
Front £11.95
TOP PROGRAMMES
M AZOG (Bug Byte) - Maniac and mobile— ZX81
£9.00
3D DEFENDER (J. K. Greye) — Young talent at war —
ZX81 £4.50
THETIMEMACHINE(Digital Fantasia) -Mist — Time
— Adventure — BBC B £8.00
BATTLE OF BRITAIN (Micro Simulations) - Speaks
for itself— Spectrum £5.50
TIME GATE (Quick Silver) — Sounds good
Spectrum £6.25
DEADWOOD (A & F Software) — Monopoly!! —
Dragon £6.50
ANDROIDS (Firefly Software) — Maze game with
lasers— Spectrum £5.00
MINIATURE WARGAMES is the newest games magazine on the market. Each issue contains a free game. No. 1 is
Hex-A-Noughts, a sci-fi game. The magazine is supported by some of the leading personalities in war-gaming and
has serious articles on all aspects of the hobby.
75p per issue. Half-year subscription £6.00. Year subscription £12.00 (Including p&p).
RED SHIFT TRADING COMPANY
Software, boardgames. role-playing games, wargames and miniatures - the work of the best British and American games designers Current
projects Campaign and battle computer simulations and strategy software If you are working in the field of thinking games CONTACT US We will
pay royalties on completed games or will commission you to program to our designer s specifications Phone or write for our complete games list
RED SHIFT - opposite the Stoke Newington railway station Cheques to Red Shift Ltd . Dept A, 12C Manor Road. London N16 5SA
PCN MAR25, 1983
7
GREAT NEW BUY ‘N TRY SOFTWARE DEAL
There’s a great new deal for your software shopping. We call it buy ii try. And it’s as simple as that!
Buy any item from our software range .... and use it as long as you wish. Whenever you want a new program ....
well buy it back for a full 80% of the price you paid against your next purchase of equivalent or greater catalogue
value .... any time within 6 months of purchase.
So you can always keep up to date with the latest software and games releases, without burning a hole in your
pocket.
How it works
Example: Buy a game for £ 10 .... enjoy it to the full, and return it when you’re ready to order something else. We’ll buy it back
for £8, so if you want another £ 10 game, simply send us the difference (£2). There’s just one simple rule ... we can only agree to
buy back software that’s in working order.
* You get the enjoyment of £20 worth of software for just £12. * It gets even better the more often you change!
Look at our super selection and complete the order form to take advantage of the hottest software deal ever, or telephone
your order to Software Centre on 01-487-5974, quoting your Access/Barclaycard number (24-hour service)
Mem Req'd
Supplier
Code No
Price
Atom Chess
12K
Bug Byte
02A001
£9.00
Acorn Atom 747
FP
Bug Byte
02A002
£8 00
Atom Breakout
4K
Buy Byte
02A003
£16.00
Fruit Machine
8K
Bug Byte
02A004
£400
Pinball
16K
Bug Byte
02A004
£4 50
Atom Invaders
12K
Bug Byte
02A005
£800
Galaxian
12K
Bug Byte
02A006
£800
Atom Man
12K
Bug Byte
02A007
£800
Labyrinth
12K
Bug Byte
02A008
£7 00
B.B.C. MICRO
Space Pirates
16K
Bug Byte
02B001
£8 00
Space Warp
32K
Buy Byte
02B002
£9 00
Golf
32K
Bug Byte
02B003
£5 50
Dragon Quest 1
16K
Bug Byte
02B004
£11.50
Fruit Machine
B
Bug Byte
03B006
£5.50
BBC Airlift
B
Bug Byte
02B007
£5 50
Polaris
32K
Bug Byte
02B006
£550
BBC Chess
32K
Bug Byte
02B009
£8 00
BBC Backgammon
A/B
Bug Byte
02B010
£800
BBC Multifile
16K
Buy Byte
02B011
£1500
BBC Micro Derby
A/B
Bug Byte
026012
£550
Database
Cosma
03B013
£1950
Stock Control
Cosma
03B014
£19.50
Commercial Accts
Cosma
03 B0 15
£1950
Home Accounts
Cosma
03B016
£1950
1 nvoices / Statement
Cosma
03 BO 17
£1950
Beebtre*
Cosma
03B018
£7 95
Time Traveller
Cosma
03B019
£695
Invaders
Cosma
03B020
£695
Character Generator
Cosma
03B021
£19 50
S T P (Word Processing)
Cosma
03BO22
£1950
Mailing List
Cosma
03B023
£1950
Star Maze
32K
Database
15B024
£7 50
Beet> Chase
32K
Database
15B025
£7 50
Cookbook Wizardry
Database
1 5B026
£7 50
Hydraulics 14yrs
Database
15B027
£550
Electric Uyrs
Database
15B028
£550
Swoop B/A
32K
Micropower
24B029
£695
Alien Destroyers
32K
Micropower
24B030
£6 95
Galactic Commander
32K
Micropower
24B031
£6 95
Timetrek
32K
Micropower
24B032
£6 95
B.B.C. MICRO cont.
Mem Reg d
Supplier
CodeNc
Price
Laser Command B/A
32K
Micropower
248033
£695
Astro Navigator B A
32K
Micropower
24B034
£4 95
Chess B/A
32K
Micropower
240035
£6 95
Footer B/A
32K
Micropower
24H036
£6 95
Adventure
Micropower
24B0J-
£6 95
Cowboy Shootout
32K
Micropower
J4B038
£595
Munchyman
Micropower
.*48039
£5 95
Seek
Micropower
240040
£5 95
Eldorado Gold B/A
32K
Micropower
24B04
£5 95
Roulette B/A
32K
Micropower
24BG42
C4 95
Reversi 2 B/A
32K
Micropower
24B041
£4 95
Filer
Micropowei
. *48044
£8 95
Micro Budget
Micropower
?4B04^
£695
Constellation B/A
32K
Micropower
24B046
£595
Disassembler
Micropower
24B04'
£5 95
World Geography
32K
Micropower
74B048
£5 95
Where B/A
32K
Micropower
24B049
£5 95
Junior Maths Pack
32K
Micropower
2 4 B0 30
£5 95
Startrek /Candyfloss
AorB
UK Software
33 BOO’
£6 50
6 Games
AorB
1 J K Software
33B002
£450
Mutant inv/ Breakout
AorB
IJK Software
338003
£6 50
Beep Beeb B or A
32K
1 J K Software
33B004
£4 50
Beebmunch B or A
32K
1 J h Software
33B005
£6 50
Super Hangman Bor A
32K
1 J K Software
31B006
£4 50
3D Maze B or A
32K
1 J K Software
v>n • •
£4 50
Invaders A
IJK Software
JJbOur
£550
Invaders B or A
32K
IJK Software
33B009
£7 50
Wordpro B or A
32K
1 J K Software
33B01C
£t0 50
Atlantis/Scrambie
32K
1 J K Software
33B01*
£7 50
Flags
32K
1 J K Software
33B012
£4 50
Hyperdrive
32K
• J K Software
33BO’ 3
£650
Strato Bomber
32K
IJK Software
33B014
£7 50
DRAGON 32
Area Radar Control
Cosma
03C0O’
£6 95
Danger Island
Cosma
03C002
£6 95
Pairs
Cosma
03C003
£695
Berserk (cad)
Dragon Data
17C004
£1995
Meteoroids (cad)
Dragon Data
17C005
£1995
Cosmic Invaders lead)
Dragon Data
17C006
£1995
Ghost Attack (cad)
Dragon Data
1 7 C00 7
£2495
Cave Hunter (cad)
Dragon Data
17C008
£1995
Starship Chameleon (cad)
Dragon Data
17C009
£1995
Astrobiast (cad)
Dragon Data
17COtO
£19 95
Chess (cad)
Dragon Data
17C011
£1995
Dragon Selection One
Dragon Data
17C0t2
£7 95
Dragon Selection Two
Dragon Data
t7C013
£7 95
PCN MAR 25. 1983
8
DRAGON 32 COBt. MemReq'd
Quasi (cass)
Madness & The Mnotaur
Personal F nance
Graphic Animator
Compute Voice
Examples from the Manual
Cahxto island
Black Sanctum
Typing Tutor
Dragon Mountain
Flag
Galax Attack (cart)
Ftail Runner (cart)
Breakout/Middle Kingdom
Dragon Invaders
Escape
Mansion Adventure
Jerusalem Adventure
Williamsburg Adventure
Uftmate Adventure
Phantom Slayer
Pl»>et Invasion
4 Games Pack 1
4 Games Pack 2
4 Games Pack 3
Racer Ball
Scarfman
Space Monopoly
Space War
Storm
Invaders Revenge
BUY ‘N TRY .... THE SURE
WAY TO GET THE BEST
FROM YOUR COMPUTER
Software Centre s great Buy n Try deal
stops costly mistakes by making sure you only
keep what you really want. It simply makes more
sense to buy ‘n try.
Supplier
Coda No
Price
Dragon Data
17C014
£7.96
Dragon Data
17C015
£7.96
Dragon Data
17C016
£7.96
Dragon Data
17C017
£7 96
Dragon Data
17C018
£7.96
Dragon Data
17C019
£7.96
Oaggn Data
17CG20
£7.95
Dragon Data
17C021
£7.95
Dragon Data
17CQ22
£7.95
Dragon Data
17C023
£7.96
Dragon Data
17C024
£7.95
Dragon Data
17C02S
£19.95
Dragon Data
17C026
£19 95
Dragon Data
17CQ27
£7.96
Microdeal
21C028
£8.00
Mcrodeai
21C029
£8 00
M ter odea!
21 COSO
£8 00
Mcrodeai
21C031
£8.00
Mcrodeai
21C032
£8 00
Mcrodeai
21C033
£8 00
Mcrodeai
21C034
£8 00
Mcrodeai
21C035
£8.00
Mcrodeai
21C036
£8.00
Mcrodeai
21C037
£8 00
Mcrodeai
21C038
£8 00
Mcrodeai
21C039
£8 00
Mcrodeai
21C040
£8 00
Mcrodeai
21C041
£8.00
Mcrodeai
21C042
£8.00
Mcrodeai
21C043
£8.00
Mcrodeai
21C044
£8.00
Mcrodeai
21C045
£8 00
Mcrodeai
21C046
£8.00
SINCLAIR SPECTRUM
Planet of Death
Inca Curse
Ship of Doom
Espionage Island
Reversj/Othello
Club Record Contlr
Collectors Pack
Gl Games i
G2 Games 2
G3 Games 3
G4 Games 4
G5 Games 5
Pastmes 1
Pastimes 2
Space Raiders
48K
48K
48K
48K
48K
Hungry Horace
Biorhythms
Geography 1
Inventions 1
Music 1
English Literature
Chess
Flight Simulation
VU-CLAC
VU-fILE
VU-3D
Arcadia
Scramble
Master Chess
Sorcercers Castle
Cosmic Raiders
Krazy Kong
Astro Scramble
Arcade
Spectral Invaders
Spectres
Aspect Edrtor/Assemble
Gulpman 16/48K
Infa Red 1 6/48K
Nightflite 16/48K
Turtle 2 16/48K
Ultraviolet 16/48K
Ortxter 16/48K
Speakeasy
48K
48 K
Artie
Artie
Artie
Arbc
Mo
ICL
ICL
ICL
ICL
ICL
CL
CL
CL
CL
CL
CL
CL
CL
CL
CL
Cl
Microgen
Psion
Psion
Imagine
Micro Gen
Micro Gen
Micro Gen
Micro Gen
Cotech
Cotech
Cotech
Bug Byte
Bug Byte
Bug Byte
Software Masters
Software Masters
Software Masters
Software Masters
Software Masters
The Chess Player
Space Intruders
Meteor Storm
L-Game Basic
Database Management
Stock Control
Commercial Accounts
48K
48K
48K
16K
16K
16K
Quick silva
Queksitva
Quicksilva
Qucksilva
Qucksilva
Qucksilva
Coema
Coema
Coema
250001
250002
25D003
25D004
26D005
27D006
27D007
27D008
27D009
27D010
27D011
27D012
27D013
270014
27D015
27D016
27D017
27D018
27D019
27D020
27D021
270022
27D023
060024
28D025
280026
28D027
280028
050029
060030
060031
060032
060033
070034
070035
07DO36
020037
020038
02D039
080040
080041
060042
080043
080044
080045
120046
120047
120048
120049
120050
120051
030052
030053
030054
SINCLAIR SPECTRUM MemReqd
Supplier
Code No
Price
Home Accounts
Coama
03D055
£19.96
Invoices and Statements
Coama
03D056
£19.96
Pharoahs Tomb (4 games)
Coama
03D057
£19.96
Character Generator
Coama
03D058
£19.96
Mailing List
Coama
030059
£19.96
S T P Word Processing
Coama
030061
£19.95
Cookbook Wizardry
48K
Database
150062
£7.50
Meteoroids
DK T rones
09D063
£4.95
3DTanx
DK T rones
09 0064
£4.95
Centipede
DK T rones
090065
£4.95
Ground Force Zero
DKTroncs
09D066
£5.00
Master Chess
Micro Gen
06D067
£6.95
Socerers Castle
Micro Gen
060068
£5.50
Cosmc Raiders
Micro Gen
060069
£5 95
Orbit er
16/48K
SWersoft
290001
£5.95
Ground Attack
16/48K
Silver soft
290002
£5.95
Starship Enterprise
48K
SWersoft
290003
£5.95
SOFTWARE CENTRE 24
LINE ORDER SERVICE 01
HOUR HOT-
-487-5974
SINCLAIR ZX81
£6.95
£6.95
£6.95
£6.95
£7.95
£9.95
£9 95
£495
£4.95
£4.95
£4.95
£4.96
£4.95
£495
£4.95
£4.95
£5 95
£6 95
£6 95
£6 95
£6 95
£695
£6 95
£7.95
£7.95
£8 95
£8.95
£9 95
£5 50
£5.50
£6 95
£5 50
£5.95
£5.00
£5.00
£5.00
£5.00
£8.00
£9 00
£5.96
£6.75
£5.96
£6 00
£7.50
£5.96
£4.96
£6.96
£6.96
£4.96
£4.96
£3.96
£19.96
£19.96
£19.96
Space Invaders
Sinclair
20E001
£3.95
Breakout
Sndair
20E002
£3.95
Bomber
Sinclair
20E003
£3.95
ZX Chess
Sndair
POE 004
£6.50
Sorcerer s Castle
Sndair
20E005
£3.95
1KZX Chess
Sndair
20E006
£2.95
Thro the wall/Scrambie
Pawn
20E007
£4.95
Super Glooper/Frogs
16K
Psion
20E006
£4.95
IK Games Pack
Sndair
20 E 009
£5.95
Planet of Death
16K
Artie
20E010
£5.95
Inca Curse
16K
Artie
20E011
£5 95
The Ship of Doom
16K
Sndair
20E012
£5 95
Espionage Island
16K
Sndair
20E013
£5.95
TooAut
16K
Sinclair
20E014
£5.95
Reversi /Othello
16K
Mcx
20E015
£6 95
Games 1
ICL
20E016
£3 95
Junior Education 2
ICL
20E017
£3 95
Business & Household 3
ICL
20E018
£3.95
Games 4
ICL
20E019
£3.95
Junior Education 5
ICL
20E120
£3.95
Family Quiz 6
ICL
20E121
£3.95
Gl 2 Fantasy Games
Psion
20E122
£4.75
G13 Space Raiders
Psion
20E123
£4.75
Gl Super Program 1
ICL
20E124
£495
G2 Super Program 2
ICL
20E125
£4.95
G3 Super Program 3
ICL
20E125
£4.95
G4 Super Program 4
CL
20E127
£495
G5 Super Program 5
ICL
20E128
£4 95
G6 Super Program 6
CL
20E129
£4.95
G7 Super Program 7
CL
20E130
£20 95
G8 Super Program 8
ICL
20E131
£4.95
GlO Backgammon
Pswn
20E132
£5.95
G14 Flight Simulation
Psion
20E133
£5.95
El English Lit. 1
CL
20E134
£6 95
E2 English Lit. 2
CL
20E135
£695
E3 Geography
CL
20E136
£6.95
E4 History
CL
20E137
£6.95
E5 Maths i
CL
20E138
£6.95
E6 Music 1
CL
20E139
£6 95
7 Inventions 1
CL
20E140
£6.95
E8 Spelling 1
CL
20E141
£695
Gil Chess
Psion
20E142
£6 95
G9 Biorhythms
Sndair
20E143
£6 95
B3VU-CALC
Sndair
20E144
£7.95
B4 VU-FILE
Sinclair
20E145
£7 95
B1 Collectors
Sndair
20E146
£9 95
B2 Club Records
Sndair
20E147
£9.95
Scramble
16K
Sndair
20E148
£3.95
Invaders
16K
Sndair
20E149
£3.95
Asteroids
16K
Sndair
20E150
£3.95
Defenders
16K
Sndair
20E151
£3.95
Breakout
16K
Sndair
20E152
£5.95
Computacalc
16K
Sndair
20E153
£7.95
Constellation
16K
Sndair
20E154
£8.00
Labyrinth
16K
Sndair
20E155
£5 95
Magnus
16K
Sndair
20E156
£9 95
Mazogs
16K
Sndair
20E157
£10.00
Mugsy
16K
Sndair
20E158
£5 95
Murgatroyds
16K
Sndair
20E159
£5.95
Murgatroyds Revenge
16K
Sndair
20E160
£5.95
Nightmare Prk/Music
16K
Sndair
20E161
£6 95
PEP
16K
Sndair
20E162
£5.95
Psnl Banking System
16K
Sndair
20E163
£9.95
Pilot
16K
Sndair
20E164
£5.95
Progmerge
16K
Sndair
20E165
£5.95
Puckman
16K
Sndair
20E166
£5.95
Space Intruders
16K
Sndai
20E167
£5.95
Space Invds/Rescue
16K
Sndair
20E168
£6.95
Star Trek/30 Os/Xs
16K
Sndair
20E169
£6.95
ZX81 Chess
16K
Sndair
20E170
£6.90
Bumper 7
IK
Sndair
20E171
£5.95
Games Pack
IK
Sndair
20E172
£6.00
Super Tno
IK
Sndair
20E173
£7.95
Ground Attack
Sndair
20E174
£5.95
Mazogs
16K
Bug Byte
20E175
£10.00
Invaders
16K
Bug Byte
20E176
£4.00
Adventure
Bug Byte
20E177
£8.00
PCN MAR25.1983
9
SINCLAIR ZXB1 conL Mam Raq d
Supplier
Code No
Price
VIC 20 cont.
ZXAS Assembler
Bug Byte
206170
£5.00
S.T.P (Word Processng)
ZXTK Toolkit
Bug Byte
206179
£6 00
Mailing List
ZXD6 D/smblar & Debugger
•
Bug Byte
206180
£6 50
Space Hero
Damsel and the Beast
Bug Byte
206181
£6.50
Quest
Dictator
Bug Byte
206182
£9 00
Martian Raider
Star Trek
Bug Byte
206183
£5 00
Mind Twisters
Constellation
Bug Byte
206184
£9.00
Shark Attack
Multifile
16K
Bug Byte
206185
£17.50
Mu It (sound Synthesizer
Awan
Sodair
206186
£6 96
Sea Invasion
Games Pack i
Sinclair
206187
£4.75
Space Attack
Games Pack 2
Sinclair
206188
£4.75
Vic Chess
Asteroids
Sndair
206189
£4.96
Vic Asteroids
Centipede
Sinclair
206190
£4.96
Another Vic m the Wall
Defender
Sodair
206191
£496
Vic Pane
Space invaders
Sinclair
206192
£4.96
Cosmaids
Games Tape - 10 Games
Vic Gammon
Starfighter /Pyramid/
IK
JKGreye
326001
£3.95
Vic Scramble
Artist
IK
J K Greye
32E002
£3 95
Martian Raider
Catacombs
16K
JKGreye
326003
£4.96
Mynad
30 Monster Maze
16K
JKGreye
326004
£496
Avenger (cart)
30 Defender
16K
JKGreye
326005
£496
Star Battle (cart)
Breakout
IK
JKGreye
326006
£1 95
Super Slot (cart)
MemReq'd
16K
16K
CALLING DEALERS!
You’ve seen the massive growth of video libraries .... you’ve seen
nothing yet! Software Centre s great new ‘Buy ’n Try deal offers the best
software deal ever If you want a bit of the action . . .. and a share of the
success ... call us right a way
VIC 20
Vic Forth (cart)
Adda
01V001
£38.95
Vic Slat (cart)
Adda
01V002
£28 95
Vic Graph (cart)
Adda
01V003
£28.95
Facemaker
16K
ASK
14V004
£8.95
Twister
16K
ASK
14V005
£895
Number Chaser
8K
ASK
14V006
£8 95
We Want to Count
16K
ASK
14V007
£8 95
Frogger
3K
Rabbit
13V008
£9 99
Ski-Run
Rabbit
13V009
£499
Space Storm
Rabbit
13V010
£6 99
Cosmic Battle
Rabbit
t3V01 1
£499
Rainbow Towers
ASK
14V012
£8 95
Number Gulper
ASK
14V013
£8 95
Super Worm
Rabbit
13V014
£4.99
Night Flight
3K
Rabbit
13V015
£4.99
Rabbit Writer
16K
Rabbit
t3V016
£t9.99
Chartset
3K
Rabbit
13V017
£4.99
Rabbit Functions
Rabbit
13V018
£499
Rabbit Base
16K
Rabbit
13V019
£14.99
Home Office
8K
Navajo
16V020
£12.96
Decision Maker
Creative
16V021
£14.96
Loan Analyser
Creative
16V022
£14.96
Car Costs
Creative
16V023
£14.95
Home Inventory
Creative
16V024
£14.95
Household Finance
Creative
16V025
£14.95
Forth (cart)
Audiogenic
16V026
£2495
Monitor (cart)
Audiogenic
16V027
£19.96
Bonzo
8K
Audogemc
16V028
£7.95
Tomb of Drewan
16K
Audiogenic
16V029
£12.95
Tr ashman (cart)
Audiogenic
16V030
£19.95
Pit
3K
Audiogenic
16V031
£7.95
Astro Blitz (cart)
Audogemc
16V032
£1995
Boss
8K
Audogemc
16V033
£14.95
Tank Attack (cart)
Audogemc
16V034
£1995
Outwortd (cart)
Audogemc
16V035
£19.95
Blockade
Audogemc
16V036
£6 95
Amok
Audiogenic
16V037
£6.95
Vicalc
Audogemc
16V038
£8.95
Alien Blitz
Audogemc
16V039
£7 95
Sky Math
Audogemc
16V040
£695
Space Division
3K
Audogemc
t6V041
£6.95
The Alien
3K
Audogemc
16V042
£7 95
Vicat
3K
Audogemc
16V043
£8.95
Hangman/Hang Math
Audogemc
16V044
£7.96
Math Hurdler /Monster Maze
Audogemc
16V045
£7 95
Sea Wolf/Bounce Out/Vic
Audogemc
16V046
£895
Code Maker/Code Breaker
Audogemc
16V047
£7.95
Koamic Kamikaze
3 or 8K
Audiogenic
16V048
£7.95
Minikit
Audogemc
16V049
£7.95
Goff
Audogemc
16V050
£7 95
Spiders of Mars (cart)
Audogemc
16V051
£19.95
Cloudburst (cart)
Audogemc
16V052
£19.95
Renaissance (cart)
Audogemc
16V053
£19.96
Satellites and Meteorites (cart)
Audogemc
16V054
£19.95
Meteor Run (cart)
Audogemc
16V055
£19.96
Magnificent Seven
3K
Audogemc
16V056
£4.95
Mikro Assembler (cart)
Audogemc
t6V057
£48.95
Casttemath
16K
Audogemc
16V058
£8 96
Arcadia
Imagine
05V059
£5.50
Database Management
Coama
03V060
£19.96
Stock Control
Cosma
03V061
£19.96
Commercial Accounts
Coama
03V062
£19.96
Home Accounts
Coama
03V063
£19.96
Invoices & Statements
Coama
03V064
£19.96
Character Generator
Coama
03V065
£19.96
Home Accounts
Coama
03V066
£19.96
Database
Coama
03V067
£19.96
Jelly Monsters (carl)
Alien (carl)
Super Lander (cart)
Road Race (cart)
Rat Race (cart)
Mole Attack (cart)
Artventureland (cart)
Pirate Cove (cart)
Mission Impossible (cart)
The Count (cart)
Voodoo Castle (cart)
Sargon 2 Chess (cart)
Omega Race (cart)
Blitz
Hopprt
Race
Strategic Advance 16K
Simplicalc 16K
Vic Stock Control 8K
Vic Writer 0K
English Language 8K
Maths 1 0K
Maths 2 8K
Biology 8K
Chemistry 8K
Physics 8K
Apple Tree Birds 3K
Engine Shed 3K
Lighthouse & Subtraction 3K
Quizmaster 8K
Know Your Own I Q 8K
Know Your Child's I Q. 8K
Know Your Own Personality 0K
Robert Carrier Menu Planner 8K
Vic Money Manager 8K
Vic Road User & Highway Code 8K
BBC Mastermind 8K
Type A Tune
Programmers Aid Cart
Super Expander High Res Cartridge
Machine Code Monitor Cartridge
Chicken Run
Dambuster
Missile Panic
RoadRunner
Android Attack
Space Hopper
Star Wars 2
Mawai Attack
Space Wars/Battle Zone
General Knowledge Data 1
General Knowledge Data 2
General Knowledge Data 3
General Knowledge Data 4
Specialist Knowledge Wine & Food
Specialist Knowledge Sport & Games
Specialist Knowledge Sport
Specialist Knowledge Music
BUY
MEAr
Supplier
Cosma
Cosma
Cosma
Cosma
Bug Byte
Bug Byte
Bug Byte
Bug Byte
Bug Byte
Bug Byte
Bug Byte
Software Masters
Software Masters
Commodore
Commodore
Commodore
Commodore
Commodore
Commodore
Commodore
Commodore
Commodore
Commodore
Commodord
Commodore
Commodore
Commodore
Commodore
Commodore
Commodore
Commodore
Commodore
Commodore
Commodore
Commodore
Commodore
Commodore
Commodore
Commodore
Commodore
Commodore
Commodore
Commodore
Commodore
Commodore
Commodore
Commodore
Commodore
Commodore
Commodore
Commodore
Commodore
Commodore
Commodore
Commodore
Commodore
Titan
Titan
Titan
Titan
Titan
Titan
Titan
Commodore
Commodore
Commodore
Commodore
Commodore
Commodore
Commodore
Commodore
Coda No
O3VO60
03V069
03 VO 70
03V071
10V072
10 VO 73
10V074
10V075
10V076
10 VO 77
02 VO 70
02 VO 79
O2VO0O
02V081
O2VO02
02V083
02V064
O0VO85
O0VO06
O4VO07
04V088
04V089
04V090
04V091
04V092
04V093
04V094
04V095
04V096
04V097
04V098
04V098
04V099
04V101
04V102
04V103
04V104
04V105
04 VI 06
04V 107
O4V1O0
04 V 109
04V110
04V111
04V112
04V 113
04V114
04V115
04V116
04V117
04V118
04V119
04 VI 20
04V121
04V122
04V123
04 VI 24
04V125
04V126
04 V 135
04 VI 36
04V137
O4V130
15V139
15V140
22V141
22V142
22V143
22V144
22V145
22V146
22V147
04V127
04 VI 28
04 VI 29
04 VI 30
04V131
04V132
04V133
04V134
Pr tea
C19.95
£19.95
£6.95
£6 95
£9 99
£9 99
£9 99
£9.99
£9 99
£9 99
£7.00
£7.00
£7.00
£7.00
£7.00
£7.00
£7.00
£9 99
£9 99
£1995
£19.95
£19.95
£19.95
£19.95
£1995
£1995
£1995
£19.95
£24.95
£24.95
£24.95
£24.95
£2495
£2495
£2495
£499
£4.99
£499
£499
£1995
£19.95
£19.95
£9 99
£9 99
£9 99
£9 99
£9 99
£9 99
£499
£499
£499
£9 99
£9 99
£9 99
£9 99
£9 99
£9 99
£9 99
£9 99
£4.99
£34 95
£34 95
£34.95
£5.50
£5.50
£6 00
£500
£5.00
£5.00
£5.00
£5.00
£5.00
£1.99
£1.99
£1.99
£1.99
£1.99
£1.99
£1.99
£1.99
YOUR SECOND
PURCHASE
* Personal callers welcome .... come
along see our snper selection!
10
PCN MAR25.I983
GREAT NEW GAMES CASSETTES FOR
ATARI FROM THE U.S.A THE ONES
YOU’VE BEEN WAITING FOR!
Our list of latest releases from the States and extensive
Atari range will be sent free with every order.
MemReq d
Supplier
Code No
Price
Bug Off
16K
Adventure Intnl
34G052
£21 99
The Eliminator
32K
Adventure Intnl
34G053
£17.99
Preppie
16K
Adventure Intnl
34 GOM
£2199
Sea Dragon
16K
Adventure Intnl
34G055
£25 49
Stratos
16K
Adventure Intnl
34G056
£25 49
Tutti Frutti
16K
Adventure Intnl
34G057
£17.99
Temple of Asphai
32K
Automated Simuts
35G058
£29.75
Upper Reaches of Asphai
32K
Automated Smuts
35G059
£14.75
Invasion Onon
24K
Automated Smuts
35G060
£18.50
Hellfire Warrior
32K
Automated Smuts
35G061
£29.75
The Keys of Acheron
32K
Automated Smuts
35G062
£14.75
Curse of Ra
32K
Automated Smuts
35G063
£14.75
Danger m Drmdisti
32K
Automated Smuts
35G064
£14.75
Datestones of Ryn
32K
Automated Smuts
35G065
£14.75
Modoc s Tower
32K
Automated Smuts
35G066
£14.75
Rescue at Rigel
32K
Automated Smuls
35G067
£22 00
Star Warrior
32K
Automated Smuls
35G068
£2975
Crush. Crumble 4 Chomp
32K
Automated Smuls
35G069
£22.00
Ricochet
16K
Automated Smuls
35G070
£14.75
King Arthur s Heir
16K
Automated Smuls
35G071
£14.75
Monster Maze
Automated Smuls
35G072
£29.75
Platter Mama
Automated Smul
35G073
£29 75
Alien Garden
Automated Smuls
35G074
£29.75
Action Quest
16K
J V Software
36G075
£22.00
Ghost Encounters
16K
JV Software
36G076
£22 00
Journey to the Planets
32K
J V Software
36G077
£22 00
God
16K
RoklanCorp
37G078*
£33.25
Wizard of Wo r
16K
RoklanCorp
37G079*
£33.25
Battle of Shiloh
48 K
Strategic Smuls
38G080
£31 00
Tigers m the Snow
40K
Strategic Smuls
38G081
£31.00
Firebird
4K
Gebeili Software
39G082*
£29 50
Embargb
8K
Gebelli Software
39G083*
£33 00
Guardian of the Gom
32K
In-Home Software
40G084
£22.00
Sentinel 1
24K
In-Home Software
40G085
£22 00
Pool 400
16K
Innovative Design
41G086"
£29 50
Choplifter
16K
Broderbund
42G087*
£29 95
Stellar Shuttle
32K
Broderbund
42G088
£23.55
Moon Shuttle
16K
Datasoft Inc
43G089
£31.40
Zaxxon
16K
Datasoft Inc
43G090
£31.40
Astro Chase
32K
First Star Software
44G091
£22.00
Venus Voyager
16K
English Software Co
45G092
£1995
Baia Buggies
16K
Gamestar
46G093
£22.00
Claim Jumper
16K
Synapse Software
47G094
£27 50
Claim Jumper
16K
Synapse Software
47G095*
£29 95
Shamus
16K
Synapse Software
47G096
£27.50
Shamus
16K
Synapse Software
47G097-
£29 95
Picnic Paranoia
16K
Synapse Software
47G098
£27.50
Picnic Paranoia
16K
Synapse Software
47G099-
£29 95
Necromancer
16K
Synapse Software
47G100
£27 50
Necromancer
16K
Synapse Software
47G101*
£29 95
Survivor
16K
Synapse Software
47G102
£27.50
Survivor
16K
Synapse Software
47G103*
£29 95
Shamus II
16K
Synapse Software
47G104
£27.50
Shamus II
16K
Synapse Software
47G105*
£29 95
Star gate Courier
16K
Syncor
48G106’
£27.50
Laser Ants
16K
Syncro
48G107
£18.50
Laser Ants
16K
Syncro
48G108*
£26 75
Astron IX
16K
Syncro
48G109
£18.50
• Denotes cartridge
SOFTWARE CENTRE 128 WIGMORE
BUY ‘N TRY
CP/M* BASED
BUSINESS SOFTWARE
These fully proven programs are designed to run on
CP/M* based machines. They have been fully audited by
H.M. Customs & Excise and the Commissioners of Inland
Revenue wherever necessary, and have been planned and
written in the U.K. All our business software has been
extensively proved in the field through our substantial user
base. And remember .... the usual Buy 4 n’ T ry terms apply ....
so it’s easy to upgrade as your needs grow
All these programs come complete with systems
specifications, manual and operating instructions. For
further information just give us a ring.
TRYSAL’ - Sales ledger Balance brought forward or open system option Provides day books
audit trails statements cash posting, arrears schedule and account enquiry £250.00
TRYPUR - Purchase ledger Choice of balance brought forward/open item system Day books
audit trails remittance advices . cheque posting £250 00
TRYNOM Nominal ledger Eitier direct posting from purchase ledger or manual posting option
Trading A/C. P L. balance sheet management information all at the press of a
button £250.00
TRYSTOK - Stock control Controls raw materials and finished goods Uses your number/code
system Can produce parts explosion 4 works orders stock valuation re-order levels and stock
profitability £250.00
TRYCOST' - Costing program A remarkably versatile system suitable for manufacturers builders
etc Ideal for those needing sophisticated cost control of time and/or materials as well as sub-
contract/external supplies Includes provision for both budgets and actuals £300.00
TRYPAY* - Payroll Suitable for all permutations of wages hourty weekly or piecework
Embraces monthly salaries and all deductions Compfces with all Govt regulations prorkjces P60 4
P35. and meets all needs of new sick pay provisions £350.00
'TRYBILL’ - Invoicing Interfaces directly to the sales ledger and stock ledger as
required £100.00
TRYTRANS' Transport route planner Helps plan loading pick lists schedules routes lor optimal
efficiency Enormously valuable lo transport fleet operators Designed to be user
friendly £350.00
All Buy n Try business software is suitable for IBM PC. Sirius and sll CP/M* based machines
* Trademark of Digital Research
BUY WITH
CONFIDENCE .... TRY
AT YOUR LEISURE
When we send your software order you'll find a return
address label and a list of the buy-back prices for each item
Remember we are pledged to buy back your software
against a new purchase of equivalent or greater catalogue value
provided you purchase it from us And you get a full six months to decide
whether to keep your software or benefit from the buy-back option
Of course, if you wish to return two or more software items against the purchase of a more
expensive item then provided that their initial purchase price does not exceed that of the new
program you want we II be happy to help
STREET LONDON W1 Tel 01-487-5974
ORDER FORM
Please rush me the following programs, and put me on the Sofware Centre mailing list for program up-dates and great
special purchase offers.
Name
Code No
Price
Name
Code No
Price
Name
Code No
Price
Cheque ( ) Postal order ( ) enclosed.
Total order value £
Please debit my Access ( ) Barclaycard ( ) m the sum of £ Account no. ((((((((((((()
My computer is (make) Model
Memory Peripherals
Name
Address
Post code
Customer Tel. No
SEND TO:
SOFTWARE CENTRE
128 WIGMORE STREET
LONDON W1
01-487-5974
Signed Please allow up to 14 days for delivery.
PCN MAR25, 1983
11
PCN MONITOR
Epson’s HX-20 — not only portable, now it’s useful too.
Relief is in sight for all of you
Epson HX-20 owners who
bought the portable computer
that slips into a briefcase’ only
to find that there was no
software to run on it.
Epson UK has launched a
suite of packages that form a
personal office system for the
machine.
Already available on micro-
cassette or plug-in ROM card
are a diary that works with the
micro's built-in clock, a mailing
list, and a card index program
that can be used as an address
book or telephone directory.
Also available is a program
called D.I.Y., a program
generator that allows you to
tailor the HX-20 to your own
applications. By answering a
seriesof questions you can write
data capture/handling routines
without learning Basic.
Sold under the Eponsoft
label, the diary and card index
programs cost £29.70 and the
mailing list and D.I.Y. prog-
rams sell for £34.50. All four
The mystery of the faulty Spec-
trum power packs has been
solved. It seems the faulty batch
contained a printed circuit
board inside the transformer. A
pair of tracks were so close
programs can also be bought as
ROM cards for £86.25 each,
and are available from Epson
dealers.
On its way, but not available
yet, is Correspondent, a pro-
gram that allows you to write
and format documents. It can
together there was a danger
that a harsh spike down the line
could cause a bridge between
them.
This would have made the
low-voltage connection be-
be linked with the mailing list
and can also be used with an
external printer.
Meanwhile Kuma. the
Maidenhead software house,
has brought out a ‘home
budget' package priced at
£19.95.
tween the pack and the Spec-
trum ‘live' with mains power. If
someone happened to be hold-
ing the bare end-plug at the
same time as a spike arrived
down the line a humid environ-
ment could have been enough
to bridge the circuits and cause a
dangerous electric shock.
The fault was discovered by
an engineer at one of Sinclair's
repair centres and the company
is going to reassess its quality
control.
The Sinclair operation in-
volves subcontracting all the
manufacturing to other com-
panies. According to Sinclair,
the manufacturer concerned
had successfully filled similar
orders before and the Spectrum
units were checked only to
make sure they worked proper-
ly. ‘We won't be making the
same assumption again.' said a
spokesman.
A network
around
the Globe
If you have been tempted by the
Globe business micro you
should now be able to find a
dealer near you who stocks it.
Globe has upped the number
of dealers to 30 and is well on the
way to its target of 40 dealers
nationwide.
The Globe's main claim to
fame is that it uses British
components throughout (with
the exception of the disk
drives). It also sells as a com-
plete package — hardware plus
software for £2.128.
The result is a system with
64K memory, dual disks hold-
ing a total of one megabyte, a
CP/M operating system and
Wordstar, Mailstar and Plan-
nercalc software packages.
Top end of the range is a
system featuring 2.4 megabytes
of storage in 8in disks and
costing £3,690.
Globe can be contacted on
0934-935222.
Go-faster
Forth on BBC
and Spectrum
Forth fans should now be able
to run this super-fast language
on their Sinclair Spectrums, and
BBC owners who already have
Forth up and running can get a
toolkit package to extend the
language's capabilities.
Artie Computing, suppliers
of a Forth package for the
ZX81, this week launched a
Forth implementation for the
Spectrum.
Selling at £14.95 it has ‘all the
Forth features except disk
handling,' the company claims.
The Forth Toolkit for the
BBC machine comes from
Level 9 Computing a company
that released a Forth package
for the micro a few months ago.
The toolkit, which costs £10,
gives the user extra facilities
such as turtle graphics, a 6502
assembler, a decompiler of
Forth words and the ability to
work with games joysticks and
printers.
Artie Computing can be
reached on 0482-75284 and
Level 9 on 0494-26871.
Shop around before buying.
Mike Hampson, at 7 Hereford
Drive, Clitheroe, Lancs, is
advertising Spectrum Forth on
cassette for only £5.95.
MICRO TEACHER — Five new educational packs for BBC micros are now
available from Acomsoft. Word Sequencing, Sentence Sequencing, Missing
Signs, Word Hunt and Number Balance retail for £15.35 or £11.90, for disk or
cassette, available direct from Acomsoft head office.
Why Sinclair recalled
those power packs
12
PCN MAR 18. 1983
SOME EXISTING
JoSbft
APPLICATIONS
• Advertising Schedules
• Appointments Planning
• Bank Accounting • Bonus Schemes
• Book Keeping • Budget Control
• Bureaux De Change
• Commission Invoicing
• Contract Costing • Cost Ledgers
• Credit Control • Customer Files
• Dental Records • Diary
• Equipment Leasing/Rental/HP
• Estate Agents • Estate Management
• Expense Accounting • Farm Records
• Fleet Vehicle Management
• Index of Books • Insurance Premiums
•Invoicing • Job Costing
• Laboratory Data Handling
• Mailing • Manufacturing Costing
• Medical Records • Medical Research
• Membership Accounting & Records
• Name & Address Files
• Office Administration • Parts List
• Personnel Records • Petty Cash Ledger
• Plant/Asset Register
• Portfolio Management • Price Lists
• Property Management*
• Purchase Ledger • Records Keeping
• Registers • Rota Planning
• Route Planning ^Royalty Payments
• Sales/Purchase Order Files
• Seating Arrangements
• Sickness & Absence Register
• Statistics • Stock Control
• Test Data Storage
• Theatre Event Costing • Time Costing
• Training Progress Reports
• Vehicle Costing
. . . and your application too!
One program - One price
Thousands of uses!
Hard to believe?
Ask for a demonstration now
SoSort
300 Ashley Road. Parkstone. Poole.
Dorset BH14 9BZ Telephone 0202 735656
Name
Company
Type of Business
Address
Telephone No:
Existing Micro (if any)
Tell me more about Tomorrow s Office
1 want to see a demonstration
Please tick
□□
SYSTEMATIC
BUSINESS COMPUTERS
For people with second thoughts about computing
EPSON OSBORNE ACT SIRIUS
DIGITAL MICROSYSTEMS
LSI
Systematic Business Computers Limited, Ambersham House, 45 Woodbridge Road,
Guildford, Surrey, GUI 4RN. Telephone: Guildford (0483) 572222
14
PCN MAR25.1983
PCN MONITOR
r
Prospero conjures a
Z80 Fortran package
The debate raging over the
merits of Basic and newer
languages such as Pascal and
Forth might lead you to think
that the mainframe language
Fortran is headed for the
scrapheap.
But Prospero, the London
software house, doesn’t share
that view. It has just released a
Fortran compiler for Z80-
based micros. The £250 pack-
age runs on any CP/M machine
with a minimum 56K memory
and two 100K drives.
The compiler generates na-
tive Z80 code directly and
conforms fully to the America
National Standards Institute
Fortran 66 standard rather than
the more recent Fortran 77
standard.
‘We have chosen the older
version because there is such a
large amount of software avail-
able for it,’ said Mike Oakes, a
director of Prospero.
The package includes the
compiler, a disk-to-disk editor,
the run-time library, a library
management utility and a pro-
gram to configure a working
copy of the software to suit
variations, such as different
disk capacities.
It has been designed to work
with the native code Pascal
compiler produced by the same
company and as a result it is
possible to write programs mix-
ing the two languages.
Prospero says execution
speed and accuracy are second
to none among 8-bit languages.
Multi-user
Archives for
£10,000
Coming upstream from Salmon
Electronics is a multi-user,
multiprocessor micro system.
With the Archives IV, Sal-
mon says, you will be able to set
up a system for five users at less
than £10,000.
The company freely admits
that the Archives IV is no
technological triumph. ‘There
is nothing very new in it/ a
spokesman said. ‘But every-
thing is tried and tested and it
works/
With Z80 processors, an
S100 bus, and MP/M, the sys-
tem’s elements do have a famil-
iar look.
Salmon, the UK distributor
for US Archives machines since
1981, can be contacted on
Darlington 0325 721368.
COLOUR CO-ORDINATED — From the company that brought you just about the
cheapest monochrome monitor on the market comes the Zenith ZVM 121-EV
colour monitor. This has a 13in screen and will run with most computers with
RGB output. It will cost you £506 from Zenith Data Systems on 0452-29451.
Six pack
from Oric
The first software for the Oric
will be hitting the shops by the
end of this month.
Oric itself has produced six
packages including a £17.50
version of Forth, Chess for
£9.99 and Oric Base for £9.95.
They will be available from
Dixons, Lasky’s, WH Smith,
Micro-C, Spectrum and other
dealers.
Bug-Byte Software will also
be releasing an adventure
game. The Castle, for £8 early
in April.
As for the machine itself:
Oric says it’s coming.
Independent puts another
card into the Apple pack
Th« U-C0M2: more Apple compatible? So says U-Computers.
Music and
mayhem on
your Beeb
Four new games are on the way
for BBC users.
Bug-Byte, the Liverpool-
based software house, will be
slipping the new packages onto
the market in two weeks.
For £7.50 each you will be
able to play Galaxy Wars, City
Defence or Space Invaders. For
those with a musical ear there is
the Music Synthesiser at £9.50.
Mr Baden says these new
packages will be available from
Bug-Byte’s 220 dealers and, in
the future, from WH Smith and
Boots.
A Manchester company has
come up with an offbeat up-
grade for adventurous owners
of the Apple II.
U-Computers, a manufac-
turer of add-on cards for Apple
II, has developed a new
mothercard for the Apple bus.
The company claims its U-
COM2 board offers greater
compatibility with the Apple II
than Apple’s own card, the
Super lie.
Dr Bill Unsworth, managing
director of U-Computers, says:
‘The Super lie does not have
Slot 0, the U-COM2 does. ' The
significance of that is that many
programs relocate the disk
operating system into a 16K
card, giving the user more free
memory.
Dr Unsworth says the pres-
ence of Slot 0 means U-COM2
can make that relocation while
the Super He can’t.
The U-COM2 costs £249 in
fully-tested board form. A
power supply is available for
£71 and a special 40-column
display board costs £39.
Apple Computers did not
wish to comment on U-
Computers, which is located at
Winstanley Industrial Estate,
Long Lane, Warrington,
Cheshire. Tel. 0925 54117/8.
PCN MAR 25. 1983
15
A ,M : (I I'; !' )
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£1195
with host adaptor and software
• bare £600
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16
PCN MAR25.1983
Letters come from people like
you, so pull out your INKEY
finger and feed usa line. Ifit’s
the best of the week’s input
PCN will add £10 to your
spreadsheet.
Address us at Random
Access, Personal Computer
N ews, VNU , Evelyn House . 02
( heford Street, London W1 A
2HG.
Out of
order?
Some time in early December ( I
forget the exact date) I sent off
the order form for the Oric
culled from one of the micro-
computer magazines. Sure
enough, the Oric failed to
materialise inside the obliga-
tory time-frame.
Why is it that the mail-order
computer companies can con-
tinue to get away with this sort
of activity?
Friends have experienced
similar delivery problems with
Sinclair some time ago and in
spite of the hue and cry raised at
the time nothing seems to have
changed. Why is nothing done?
Duncan Snelling
Putney, SW15.
Clear away the
copyright clouds
I am a complete layman in legal
matters, but I feel I should
comment on the current con-
troversy concerning software
copyright.
The copyright laws have not
been clarified by the courts, and
I assert that it is has yet to be
shown that copyright applies to
computer software and hard-
ware, except where the soft-
ware is in documentary form.
Therefore, as the law stands at
present, no copyright exists in
computer tapes or ROMs in
whatever form they are manu-
factured.
I was at one time completely
sympathetic with the copyright
concept , when it applied only to
Iterary and musical works, and
when the proceeds of royalties
benefited the authors.
I began to lose my sympathy
when the recording companies
formed an organisation which
extorted additional fees, princi-
pally for the benefit of the
recording companies, from the
legitimate owners of their pro-
ducts when the products were
used outside the circle of the
owner’s immediate family and
friends.
RANDOM ACCESS
At present the manufactur-
ers of audio and video tapes are
also making obscene noises,
and the latest band to join the
merry throng is the publishers
of computer program tapes.
If one takes a cool look at the
situation, every one of these
latter-day Shylocks has already
been adequately reimbursed
for his labours; if he has not, he
has only himself to blame.
I, like most people, have
spent my life working for an
employer. During my employ-
ment I introduced many in-
novations, some of which for all
I know are still in use to this
day. I received no financial
reward for any of them, other
than my normal salary; neither
did I expect one.
When copyright genuinely
exists, it is automatically con-
ferred by publication, and no
song and dance is necessary. If
they want to make an issue of
the matter, let them take it to
court and get the law clarified.
Short of using ‘bully boy’
tactics, I agree that all are
perfectly entitled to take what-
ever steps they think fit to
prevent their material being
copied, and most already do so
with a considerable degree of
success. If they don’t like the
existing law, they must take
steps to get it altered, or else
change their product, and pro-
duce material which is indisput-
ably copyright, ie listings only.
R J Parsons
Whitton, Middx.
Why are the
prices so high?
It seems to me that someone
ought to expose UK computer
prices.
How many unsuspecting cus-
tomers are aware that in the US
personal computers cost rough-
ly half what they do here?
I am at a loss to understand
why this should be so. I would
greatly appreciate some sort of
explanation of this state of
affairs, but in fact. I find it hard
to believe that there is one.
Mona C undick,
Dagenham, Essex
Chess champ
challenged
An article on chess by David
Levy was quite a coup for your
first issue, and congratulations
are due.
But it was disappointing to
see Levy subscribing (albeit in
his last paragraph) to the te-
dious and often repeated view
that mechanical chess players
will one day surpass humans.
Perhaps it would be charit-
able to say that this is the type of
conclusion to an article that
rolls most readily out of the
typewriter and spares the au-
thor further thought. Perhaps
Levy genuinely believes in the
irresistible march of tech-
nology.
Either way it hardly matters.
Aside from the practical and
philosophical objections to the
idea of superhuman chess
champions, consider the pur-
pose of programming machines
to play chess. Surely it isn’t
simply the mountaineer’s syn-
drome (‘because it’s there’) that
is responsible for all the time
and effort that has gone into
chess programs.
If chess programs have any
importance in the context of
artificial intelligence —
teaching machines to give the
appearance of thinking — isn’t
their technical ability vis-^-vis
humans largely irrelevant?
And if they do become the
greatest players in the world,
and men give the game up
because of a sense of inferiority,
can you imagine anything more
sterile than a game of chess
between two machines?
Andrew Gallagher,
Staines
Micros make
meetings
Some people do talk rubbish —
even if half the blame goes to
others for printing it ( Micro
hermits, PCS March 18).
Roy Church talks of ‘societal
impact' and suggests that peo-
ple already behave in an anti-
social manner.
What does he mean? I’ve met
a lot of fellow enthusiasts since I
bought my Vic and now know
neighbours I’d never talked to
before.
Such comments can come
only from someone who is
already missing out — in this
case missing out on micros.
Andy Moise,
Mitcham.
Micronet’s
call costs
Firstly, I would like to con-
gratulate you on a first class
magazine. If the standard re-
mains as high as the sister
magazine Personal Computer
World , I shall eagerly await the
arrival of it each week.
I would like to make one
comment on your article on the
new Micronet 800 network.
You mention that unlike the
Prestel system, most of the
pages are free and you only
have to pay for the cost of a local
call.
This is not correct. You pay
for a Computer Connect charge
(currently 5p a minute), be-
tween the hours of Sam and 6pm
weekdays and 8am and 1pm on
Saturdays.
All other times are free, ie
Sundays and public holidays,
the only charge being the cost of
a local call.
Bob Hallett
Enfield, Middx.
Roots of
the square
When R J Parsons of Whitton,
Middlesex ( PCN, March IS)
said he'd be dubbed square’
because of his views about
computer games, he’s absolute-
ly right.
A stuffed shirt more like.
What is slightly odd is that he
doesn’t seem to think games are
a matter of skill.
Surely it’s better to spend
hours calculating complex
mathematics to land a
spaceship on the moon, or
exercise memory and strategy
in an adventure game, rather
than to doze off watching Cros-
sroads or some mind-dulling
TV quiz special.
I’m glad Mr Parsons will be
glad to be called square . If this is
his attitude he obviously gets
very little fun elsewhere.
W Bisiker,
Guildford.
Forget
Frankenstein
I think David Levy missed a
vital pont in Chess Programs
(PCN March 18).
By saying ‘one day the com-
puter will be the master, and
man the powerless slave’ is
nonsense.
The computer will always
(Hal apart) be the slave since
man will always remain the
creator.
J Budge,
Exeter.
PCN MAR25.I983
17
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DATATEL ANTI GLARE SCREENS
'Apple Files' by David Miller,
published by Prentice-Hall at
£11.95 (paperback, 414 pages)
Of all the major skills needed
for effective data-processing.
disk filing techniques are
the most difficult to acquire.
The oddities of Apple DOS
don’t make it any easier, so this
hook looked as though it might*
be a welcome offering to the
novice.
It’s much more than the title
suggests, being a complete tuto-
rial on writing data-handling
programs in Applesoft Basic
rather than on disk-files alone.
It contains complete listings
of several suites of programs,
some of which look comprehen-
sive. Each chapter introduces
new concepts in Basic, with a
question-and-answer section to
check progress. But in the
attempt to lead the novice
gently, the author uses some
quite apalling programming
techniques.
The book , no doubt , contains
useful information but the poor
technique obscures it. RK
'Mastering the Vic-20’ by A J
Jones, E A Coley A DGJ Cole,
published by Ellis Norwood,
£5.95 (paperback, 178 pages).
This is the best book I’ve seen
for the Vic-20.
It’s not only readable and
understandable, but instructive
and fun ; and worth the price for
the example programs alone.
Among these are a music
synthesiser and hi-resolution
graphics drawing program, plus
a machine-code dump-to-
printer routine.
But the authors offer much
more than examples. Starting
with an introduction to the
more obscure bits of Basic and a
plea for structured program-
ming, Mastering the Vic-20
moves through sound, user-
defined graphics, peripherals
— including the Vic printer —
and useful sections on file-
handling on cassette and disk.
The second part of the book
gives an overview of the system
architecture and introduces
machine-code programming.
It should be on the book-
shelvesofall Vicowners. PW
COMPUTING
FOR THE
HOBBYIST
AND SMALL
BUSINESS
'Computing for the Hobbyist and
Small Business’, by A P
Stephenson, published by
Granada at £6.95 (paperback,
200 pages).
Computing for the Hobbyist
and Small Business is among the
latest in the wave of books for
newcomers to computing. But
what makes this one different is
that it breaks the usual structure
and sets out to group hobbyists
and small business buyers
together and concentrate on
their needs.
The book's introduction sets
the gentle style. By the time you
finish it you’ve been given a
good idea of what kind of micro
system you need.
One particularly useful fea-
ture is the stock control exam-
ple program which has exten-
sive explanatory notes.
But there are obvious short-
falls, notably the index which is
so brief it limits the book’s use
for reference. However, all in
all, it is a good introduction to
the business of micros. JL
18
PCN MAR25, 1983
FCN Paperchase
It’s week two ... the chase is on. You should
have the answer to the first part of PCN
Paperchase by now — so you must be well on
the way to winning one of the four BBCs
we’re giving away — each worth £399.
You’ll remember that last week we asked
you to unravel the first five lines of a muddled
program and come up with a unique number.
An errant programmer had written a 30-liner
on separate pieces of paper. But he failed to
number it before a gust blew it into a heap on
the floor.
The first part should not have caused you
any problems. This week’s will be a little
tougher — if only because we want you to
decipher the next ten lines of the program.
When you’ve sorted the MID$ from the
PRINTS, you'll get a three-word phrase which
(and here’s the clue) is more relevant to
foresters than to market gardeners.
Once you’ve cracked it, keep the answer in
mind. You’ll need it to complete the final part
next week, and send your solution to us.
Don’t send part answers — wait until you
have solved next week’s problem. Then waste
no time in claiming your chance to win a BBC.
Once again . . . good luck!
p*
Pt ♦
MID* (At. 28. 1) :
Pt «
Pt
MID* (At, 6, 1)
p*
Pt ♦
MID* (At, 14. 1 ) s
Pt «
Pt
♦
MID* (At, 7, 1 )
*p*
Pt ♦
MID* (At, ll,l)t
Pt -
Pt
MID*<A*,9, 1 )
p*
MID* (At, 3, 1)* Pt -
Pt ♦
MID* (At, 12,2)
A*
" ABCDEFGH I J KLMNOPORS TUVW X Y Z
-
1234567890"
p*
Pt ♦
MID* (At, l,l)t
Pt -
Pt ‘
♦
MID* (At, 3, 1)
p*
Pt «■
MID* (At, 27, 1 > l
Pt *
Pt
♦
MID* (At, 23, 1)
PRINT "PHRASE - "1 Pt
P* » pt «- MID* fA*, 15, 1 ) :
Pt -
~Tt
MID* (At, 18, 1)
Pt
*
Pt ♦
MID* (At, 20, 1 ) l
Pt -
Pt
♦
MID* (At. 19, 1)
You don’t have to use a computer to solve this — just
common sense and logic. The program is written in BBC
Basic, so with only minor adjustments (such as a comma
instead of a semi-colon) it will run on any machine using
Basic.
HAPPINESS
IS . . . /
NOT FEELING THE SPIKES !
Computers don t like spikes either
from lightning or load switching .
DISTRIBUTOR ENQUIRIES WELCOME
UNITY POWER INTERNATIONAL LTD
Legion House Godstone Road Tel 01-668-8251
Kenley Surrey CR2 5YS England Telex 946587
SPECIAL OFFERS
Ex-Demo stock all in excellent condition with Guarantee.
1. ACT 8000 Computer 64K Ram
with 2.4 meg Dual Disk Drive, with
full software including WORD-
CRAFT 80, Sales Ledger, Purch-
ase ledger. Nominal Ledger, Stock
Control, Invoicing, Database
£2450.00
2. As above with 132 Col Dot Matrix
Printer £2950.00
3. Apple III 128K Computer
£1800.00
4. Apple III Disk Drive £200.00
5. Ricoh 1 600 Daisy- Wheel Printer
£900.00
6. Hewlett Packard 85 £950.00
Datalect Computers Limited
33/35 Portugal Road
Woking, Surrey
Tel: (04862) 25995
PCN MAR25, 1983
19
Our spreadsheet sys
But let’s start with
Today, computers, micros and more
importantly business planning systems are no
longer considered luxuries
They allow you to make better decisions
by providing better information on budgeting,
cash flow, project profitability, Acquisition
Appraisal, Lease vs Purchase analysis and
much more.
You stay one step ahead of your business
and your business stays one step ahead of the
competitors.
But which system should you buy?
Surely no one system can meet the needs of all
businesses?
Fortunately Comshare is not like most
companies. We see the need for different
systems to suit different people.
NEW USERS START HERE
PlannerCalc at £85.00* is now accepted
as the first choice for people new to financial
planning.
immediately see their effect on every
thing else in the model.
It comes with
the best manual
on the market and
it’s suitable for
most micros with
a ™CP/M 2.2
operating system,
64K of memory,
giving at least IKK)
cells, minimum
screen width of 80
characters and 2
floppy disc drives.
MUCH MORE POWER,
NOT MUCH MORE MONEY
MasterPlanner is the most powerful
spreadsheet system currently available with
its increased matrix size, 2(XK)-30(X) cells on
most 64K micros. (But at £ 245 * it certainly
isn’t the most expensive.)
Designed for 8- bit micros, it boasts the Consolidation of models, allows you to
kind of features that you’d expect to pay twice create separate plans for each department and
as much for. (Buy PlannerCalc’s nearest rival then combine them into an overall company
and you’ll have to.)
Unlike all other‘calc’products
it allows you to enter calculations
in a language you understand.
Plain English.
For example:
UNE I SALES=I00. 150. 175.210
UNE 2 EXPENSES=GROW 70 BY 15% FOR 4
UNE 3 NET=SALES— EXPENSES
UNE 4 CSALES=CUM SALES
COLUMN 5 YEAR= SUM OF COL I THRU COL 4
So it’s much easier to use.
It uses the popular “spread-
sheet” approach with a window
that can be rolled in all directions.
Which means you can enter
new figures and rules and
20
PCN MAR25.I983
terns start at .£85.00.
you need one.
y OVER 10 YEARS EXPERIEI
plan. Data transfer to word
processing and other systems
lets you incorporate figures in
reports and output to a data
base. It also has extensive
formatting facilities which
means you can produce reports
that wouldn’t look out of place in
the board room.
It can store up to 25 stan-
dard reports to run when you need them. It’s
got full WHAT IF? analysis and direct
editing of both spreadsheet and logic display.
JUST AS EASY TO USE
All this increased power doesn’t mean
you’ll need a degree in advanced computing
to understand MasterPlanner.
It works on exactly the same
system as PlannerCalc and models
written on PlannerCalc run without
modification on MasterPlanner.
OVER 10 YEARS EXPERIENCE
When you invest in MasterPlanner or
PlannerCalc you’re not just getting the best
software money can buy.
16 BIT VERSION
A new version of Master-
Planner has been specifically designed 1
for the 16 bit micros like the Sirius 1
under ™CP/M-86 or the IBM personal using
either CP/M- 86 or ™MS DOS 1 . 1 . With a vast
matrix size of over 7000 cells on 128K and
even more with larger memory, you’ll at last
be able to make the most of your micro.
ULTIMATE POWER
Fastplan is the top Comshare micro
planning system.
It’s file-based, allowing development of
large scale models; with a staggering 18,000
cell matrix; full financial functions plus back-
wards iteration, file input and output; and
much more. Yet, because it can be menu
driven it is easy to use. For the full story, tick
the Fastplan box when you return the coupon.
You’re also getting the kind of back up
and after-sales service that only a company
of Comshare’s track- record can guarantee.
If you’d like to know more about any
product, call in at your local dealer or fill in the
coupon and send it to us.
* Plus VAT and post k package
Making the computer make sense.
*CP/M and "'CP/M-86 are the registered trade marks of Digital Research Inc.
Comshare Ltd., 32-34 Great Peter Street, London SW1P2DB. Telephone: 01222 5665.
r T : Department pcn 3 Comshare Ltd.. 32-34 Gt. Peter Street. London SW 1 P 2DB.
Please send me:
Qty
Product
Micro
Op System
Disc Size
K
Amount
X . P-
PlannerCalc
O £99.50
(8 bit only)
CP/M 2.2
875 v/
MasterPlanner
& £282.95
CP/M 2.2
875V/
MasterPlanner
IBM PC
MS IX )S 1 1
875V/
MasterPlanner
CP/M 86
875V/
All prices include VAT and postage & packing TOTAL |
Please send me information about Fastplan Q
I enclose a cheque/postal order for £_
Please debit my Access Card No
Barc,a y card N°
Signature
Name
Address
de payable to Comshare Ltd.
for £
for jC
_Tel. No._
| P lease allow 28 days for delivery. VAT No. 238418649. Registered No. 98040*,
lo accept any uniere Any a< i ryumr will Lt iub)Kl loComilun'i t«mi ind ".c i .
I aniiKur reaerve l he n|
PCN MAR 25. 1983
21
16 K RAM PACKS
FOR VIC 20
To the trade only
PLUS 80 GUARANTEE
To beat any manufacturers price on 16K
and 24K RAM packs with full one year
guarantee.
This offer applies to a minimum order of 10 units.
Write or phone for details to:
PLUS 80
432 GREENFORD ROAD
GREENFORD
MIDDLESEX
Tel: 575 1908.
Micro
Systems
Maintenance
• Maintenance of a wide range of
microcomputers and associated peripherals
at competitive prices.
e An independent and professional service
tailored to your requirements.
• Preventative and/or corrective maintenance,
on-site or depot repair.
• Flexible service from a committed team
with a proven track record.
Contact us to discuss your maintenance
needs, without obligation.
Micro Systems Maintenance.
P.O. Box 165, Swindon, Wiltshire. SN5 7YR.
Write to: Max Phillips. Routine
Inquiries. Personal Computer
News, VNU, Evelyn House,
62 Oxford Street, London
W1A2HG
Strong silent type
An article 1 read described
Pascal as being ‘strongly typed 1 .
Can you explain what this
means? The writer seemed to
feel that this is not a good thing.
Simon Drew,
Mitcham.
Data typing is an important part
of programming as well as an
issue in the structured program-
ming debate that hasn't yet
been aired.
All information is of one sort
or another. The type of a piece
of data is simply the set to which
it belongs. So the type of a
datum such as ‘34’ might be
‘whole number' or Teal num-
ber' or ‘age'. A letter like ‘z’
might be of type ‘letter’ or type
‘character’ and so on. A vari-
able of a particular type can
only take on values from that
particular set.
Pascal, being a very formal
language, is full of data types.
As well as the more obvious
integer, real and character
types, it has a Boolean type. A
Boolean variable can only be
true or false. So if you write
‘VAR verdict: Boolean*, you
declare a variable which could
only hold one of two values —
true or false.
Pascal lets you add newer and
ever more complex types at
will. Some of the famous exam-
ples are ‘TYPE day = (Mon-
day, Tuesday, Wednesday,
Thursday, Friday, Saturday,
Sunday)* or TYPE sex =
(male, female)*. A variable
such as ‘VAR Sexjohn: sex’ can
only have the values ‘male’ and
‘female’.
You can go on building
bigger and better types using
array and record structures.
And you can use parts of
existing types, such as TYPE
weekday = Monday . . .
Friday’.
Languages vary in the
amount of typing available.
Pascal is strongly typed. Basic
has at most the real , integer (eg,
A%) and string types (eg, A$).
BCPL has only the one type, a
16 to 32 bit word. You can do
what you like with it.
Assembly language has no
types at all unless you count the
‘byte’ as being a primitive type.
It’s up to you to implement
whatever types and structures
you need out of this basic unit.
You’ve probably already
spotted the advantages of
strong typing. It makes pro-
grams easier to read and debug.
It ensures that, like the shaped
slots in a child’s toy, nothing
evergoes where it shouldn't. So
TODAY: = MALL isn't
allowed. Strong typing can
allow some compilers to gener-
ate very efficient code.
But it can be very restrictive.
There is no reason why you
shouldn't be able to write
TODAY: = YESTERDAY +
1’. If you have a TYPE colour
= (red, green, blue)’, why can’t
you later say ‘WHITE: = red +
green + blue’? In Basic red T
RED = 1: LET GREEN = 2:
LET BLUE = 4’ followed by
LET WHITE = RED +
GREEN 4- BLUE’ is not only
just as clear but it also works.
A compiler which permits
strong typing and implements
full checking of variables can
easily end up with an over-sized
run-time library.
Systems programmers tend
to avoid typing, applications
programmers tend to use it.
Catty
questions
I have a question over which *
have lost much sleep. I have a cat
and my husband has a micro-
computer. The computer sits
near a sunny window in my
husband’s study and the cat has
taken to lying on the keyboard.
Is the cat in any danger?
Judith Orr,
London NW1.
No, not unless your husband is a
fast typist. Keyboards tend to
be safe to touch and I doubt
whether the cat’s eyesight will
be impaired through staring at
the screen all day. Cats rarely
do anything that strikes them as
uncomfortable.
I’m more worried about the
computer. Cat fur and paw-
prints will not improve the
reliability of floppy disks.
iKLiimaiyg
Max BDOS ERROR ON A'
Phillips opens the pod door,
Hal. Got a query? Send it
here. No personal replies
promised but you never know .
22
PCN MAR25, 1983
PCN MAR25, 1983
23
ASSOCIATES
LIMITED
NAMAL
HILTON COMPUTER
SERVICES LIMITED
The renowned PERSONAL BANKING
SYSTEM is now available for
ZX 81 ■ ZX SPECTRUM ■ DRAGON 32
Maintain permanent records and fully detailed
statements of your finances including:
* ALL cheque book transactions and bank receipts
♦ ALL standing order payments
AUTOMATICALLY PROCESSED (monthly,
quarterly, six-monthly or annually AND for set
number of payments)
In addition the ability to search, locate, delete or correct
previous entries. List by category facility is included.
Additional BANK RECONCILIATION module
available, (Dragon version soon) to automatically
match vour Bank Statement to your PERSONAL
BANKING SYSTEM account.
Full instructions included and GUARANTEED after
sales maintenance provided.
PBS ZX 81 £8.95 ( 16K) ■ ZX SPECTRUM £9.95
(48K) ■ DRAGON £9.95 (32K)
REC (for use with above) £5.00
ORDER (specifying for which machine) by POST from
Hilton Computer Services Limited Dept (MD2)
14 Avalon Road. Orpington. Kent BR6 9AX
OR at the POST OFFICE using TRANSCASH ACCOUNT 302 9557
* YOUR PBS IS NEVER OUT OF DATE *
The
Dual-Density portable
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FREE: Matrix Printer
Our Normal Price £235
THE COMPLETE PACKAGE
• Osborne I Microcomputer • Double Density Disc Drives • Keyboard
• Monitor • RS-232/IEEE 488 PORTS • CP/M • Micro Soft Basic
•C Basic • Wordstar • Mail Merge • Supercalc • 12 months warranty
The total value of the software supplied free with the
Osborne is L800 , but this offer is for a very limited period
only so take action now by telephoning Zak Computers Ltd. ,
061-872 7818 or wnte to Churchill House, 88/92 Talbot Road,
i+fv-v-c. 061-872 7818 or wnte to Churchill He
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NAMAL
24
PCN MAR25, 1983
MICROWAVES
■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■
If you've got something to crow
about ... a bit of magic that'll
make the world a better place
for micro users, then send it to
PCN Microwaves — our regular
page of readers' hints and tips.
We’ll pay you £5 if we print it.
W e’ll pay you even more if your
little gem gets our vote as
microwave of the month. Think
on . . . and write to Micro-
waves, PCN, 62 Oxford Street,
London W1A2HG.
Apple joystick
out of control
Beware the reverse joystick
blues.
I had just come home from
playing games on a friend’s
Apple and had used my joystick
whilp we were playing. When I
got home I put the joystick back
in my machine and sat down to
write a letter using my word-
processing program — Super
Text — and found that my
keyboard wouldn't control the
keys properly.
I turned the machine off in
frustration and forgot about it
for a while. When I turned the
machine on the next day I
loaded a games program and
tried to play it; this time the
joystick wouldn't move.
I soon realised I had put my
joystick in backwards, thereby
causing the wordprocessor and
the game to work improperly.
So if you think your keyboard
is packing up or worse, check
the position of your joystick
first.
E G Mardsen
Chipping Camden
How I define
BBC characters
No matter how much fun user
defined characters are on the
BBC, it's always awkward to
type in rowsof VDU commands
to create them. I always use the
procedure below to define my
characters.
Each character is defined by a
stringof eight hex bytes held in a
DATA statement. Hex is used
because it’s easier to enter and
check and you don’t have to do
any decimal conversions. The
program decodes each string
and defines characters from 224
onwards, though you could
easily change this.
N Beech
London N16
Protect your
Lynx graphics
I used to think my Lynx was
slow, but if you use the PRO-
TECT command, you can write
quite quick graphics in Basic.
PROTECT disables certain
colours. So if you PROTECT
MAGENTA, the Lynx doesn't
update its memory for red or
blue colours. It can print only in
green but it does do it a lot
faster.
You should be able to make
any animated game use this
feature. I set up a background.
PROTECT it and then have any
moving objects in one of the
unprotected colours.
One useful command I disco-
vered by accident is TEXT.
This protects everything but
green. It’s useful not only for
speeding up programs but it
makes LISTing and editing a lot
quicker as well. The Lynx has a
few other surprises. There is an
STR command, even if it isn't
mentioned in the manual. Any-
one else discovered any sec-
rets?
G Carter
London Wl
Snooper stopper
A lot of security systems are
fairly complicated to imple-
ment, and the problem is that
no matter how good it is, it can
almost always be cracked.
But if you're protecting, say,
club data or files for a small
business, you may need only to
delay snoopers rather than stop
them completely.
Say your filing system in-
volves the program giving you a
number of options, and asks
you to INPUT one of those
options. You need only make a
small alteration to the program
listing for the correct answer (as
far as your software is con-
cerned) to be a codeword rather
than an actual named option.
An easily remembered cod-
ing system would be for you to
INPUT the name of the pro-
gram at this point rather than
what the computer is ostensibly
asking for.
You would then be asked
again for an INPUT, and this
time you would put in the right
answer.
Y T Hall,
Southend, Essex
Numbers trap on
the Jupiter Ace
The Forth language used on the
Jupiter Ace is powerful, but it
holds a trap for beginners. It is
possible to accidentally rede-
fine ordinary numbers to be-
come something else.
Programs are written in
Forth by defining new com-
mands and building them into
programs. Each command is
defined by typing a colon (:)
followed by the name of the
command and then the instruc-
tions which make up the com-
mand.
Once the command has been
defined its name has to be keyed
in and it will be performed.
The trap is that new users
may accidentally leave out the
name that was meant to be
given to the command. If this
happens the first instruction
which should have followed the
name will itself become the
name of a new command.
This means that if, for exam-
ple, the first instruction is the
number 2, it could accidentally
be redefined to be equal to the
number 3. The Ace would then
think that 2+2=6.
It is not easy to spot when this
has happened. The best way is
to keep a careful check on the
list of new words by using the
VLIST command. Being care-
ful when defining new com-
mands also helps.
L Roberts,
Holland-on-Sea, Essex.
Curing the One's
oval
>LIST
lOOO DEFPROC_DEFCHARS
1010 LOCAL SA,A«,I
1020 SA-224
1030 READ At* IF LEN(At)<>16 THEN ENDPROC
1040 VDU 23, SA* FOR 1-1 TO 16 STEP 2*VDU EVAL < "*."-*-MID* < At, 1 , 2) ) * NEXT I * SA-SA+ 1 * G
OTO 1030
1030 REM Some sample character definitions
1060 DATA "SSAASSAASSAASSAA", “01020408101 11214", ** 18FF 18FF 1 8 1BFF 18" , "END"
Give it the right command and the Oric
thinks it's in America — and its ovals
become true circles.
When I got my Oric I was upset
to find that the CIRCLE com-
mand actually draws ovals, not
circles.
But after a few hours of trial
and error I’ve found a way
round the problem.
I just key in FILL 1 , 1 ,29 and
the whole picture on the televi-
sion screen stretches upwards.
This makes the ovals drawn
by the CIRCLE command into
real circles.
I think this works because
part of the Oric is designed so it
can be converted to work with
American TV sets as well as
British ones.
This is because American
televisions use a different sys-
tem from ours and so need a
different signal. Giving the
right command makes the Oric
think it is in America.
For some reason the mixture
of American and British tele-
vision signals makes the picture
stretch. Can anyone explain
why this should happen?
Furthermore, this system
does not always have the de-
sired effect.
It works with my television (a
Grundig) but it made the pic-
ture on my friend’s TV go crazy.
By adjusting the vertical hold
control on the back of her TV
we got a normal picture again.
If you switch into the TEXT
mode the picture will go back to
normal.
It can also be made to do this
by keying in the command FILL
1,1,31. The commands can be
part of a computer program.
Peggy Keenan,
Eastbourne, Sussex.
PCN MAR25. 1983
25
«- * dtlC ,o9 ^ 4-
dcitQ-a/zette
\o
"ZZ •*£****
c °
,Sp*'*°
isililWs 1 ***
SHARP POCKET COMPUTERS
A complete pocket-sized battery powered computer -
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and memory which retains even while switched off. The
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Computing ★ BASIC language
• PCI 500: Expandable. Fast £169.95
• PCI 251: New!! £79.95
• PCI 21 1: Few Remaining £59.95
plus £1.50 p & p
M &
DATA CASSETTES
High quality. AGFA tape, screw assembled cassettes
with library boxes.
Pack of ten including post and packing:
C5 - £5.20 CIO -£5.40 C12-E5.50
Cl 5 - £5.60 C20 - £5.80 C25 - £5.95
Order two packs - Deduct £1
CONNECTING LEADS to your
Cassette Recorder
Specify BBC 1 /BBC2/DRAGON £2
SINCLAIR ADD-ONS
ZX81 16k RAM PACK £29.50
ZX81 KEYBOARDS Professional £37.95
ZX81 KEYBOARDS MiniKlik £26.50
Plus £1.50 p & P
ORDER FORM TO: Data-Assette, Dept PCN1. 44
Shroton Street, London NW1 Tel: 01-258 0409
QTY
ITEM
PRICE
PAP
TOTAL
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QUALITY DISK DRIVES
Single drive 40 track single sided 1 x 1 00k £ 1 80/225
Dual drive 40 track single sided 2 x 1 00k £365.00
Dual drive 80 track double sided 2 x 400k £799.25
All drives are cased with own PSU for reliability,
and include connecting cables and utilities disk
Delivery £4.00
SOFTWARE FOR THE BBC MICRO
MISSILE CONTROL the first implementation on the
BBC Micro of the popular arcade game (32K) £5.00
MAZE MAN an authentic version of the popular
arcadegame (32K) £6 00
BALLOONS a highly original game that soon becomes
compulsive playing. (32K) £6.00
DISASSEMBLER the memory dump routine includes
a scrolling back in memory facility . ( 1 6K) £5.00
MISSILE CONTROL. MAZE MAN & BALLOONS
use the Keyboard or joysticks for control
30+ PROGRAMS FOR
THE BBC COMPUTER
This Book contains program listings, with explanations & tips
on using the BBC Micro
GAMES UTILITIES GRAPHICS A MUSIC
Most programs will run on Models A & B
Edited by C.J Evans, various Authors
A pair of cassettes with all the programs is available
BOOK £500
BOOK & CASSETTE SET £9 00
LEADS
The BBC Micro comes without a cassette lead
7PinDinto2 x 3.5mm & 1 x 2.5mm minijacks £4.00
7Pin Din to 5Pin Din & 2. 5mm minijack £4.00
7PinDinto7PinDin £4.00
7Pin Din PLUGS Twofor£0.65
6Pin Din PLUGS (for RGB socket) Two for£0.65
5Pin Din PLUGS (360’ forRS232) Twofor£0.65
RS423 TO RS423 (BBC Micro to BBC Micro)
Twometrecable £4 00 Four metre cable £5.00
TELEVISION/MONITOR LEADS full range available
Phono plug to Co-ax with high quality cable 3 metres
BNC Plug to BNC Plug
BNC Plug to Phono Plug(i.e BBC Micro to RediffusionTVRM)
RGB 6Pin Din to 6Pin Dm 1 metre £4.00 2metre
£300
£3 10
£2 20
£5 00
PRINTER CABLES
BBC to 36 way Centronics Type connector £17.50
BBC to 25 way D Type (for use with RS232) £9.50
BBC to 40 way edge connector (Centronics 739) £20.00
TORCHto36wayCentronicsTypeconnector £20.00
Blank C15 and C30 Computer Cassettes
Ten for £4.50 any mix
15 Way D type Plug with Cover £2.75
Computer graphics design pads 1 00 sheets £4.00
BBC UPGRADE KITS
RAM UPGRADE (100ns) £23 00
KIT A Printer A l/Q Port £9.50
KIT B Analogue Port £8.00
KITC SerialT/O A RGB £10.00
KIT D Expansion Bus/Tube £8 00
Full Upgrade Kit (Model AtoB) £60 00
6522 VIA (Included in Kit A) £4.50
All components full specification
STAR DP8480 PRINTER
From £250.00 Inc VAT
80 CPS 80/96/ 132 COLS
BIDIRECTIONAL LOGIC SEEKING
TRACTOR WITH FRICTION FEED
RS232 version £217.39 + £32.61 VAT = £250.00
High Res Graphics option to allow BBC Screen dumps £15.00/£20.00
(24HR SECURICOR DELIVERY FOR PRINTERS £8 00)
VAT Included where applicable
Send SAE lor full Price Lot of our large range of accessories
POSTAGE Add 50pper order or as stated
C L C Dept (PCN), 25 HENRY AVE. RUSTINGTON.
• lJ. W. SUSSEX BN1 6 2PA (09062) 6647
microcomputers
26
PCN MAR 25. 1983
COLECO EXCLUSIVE
A plug-in keyboard would zap-up the new Coleco Vision games unit, says Geof Wheelwright
o ■
When you take the lid off, this games machine
looks far more like the computer it really is. The
big processing chip near the front is a Z80A and
the front interface connects to peripherals —
including the soon-to-be-released computer
keyboard.
Qwerty versus Donkey Kong
D on’t write off the ColecoVision video
games system just because you want a
programmable computer. That may
have been the rule in the past, but this
machine will sport a plug-in keyboard —
one day.
At £130 the Coleco machine is a
computer in video game clothing. CBS
Electronics and Ideal Toys are due to
launch it in June.
The vital clue is on the front of the
machine — hiding just below the game
cartridge socket is an innocent-looking
expansion interface. This is where you can
plug in a computer keyboard.
There's no estimated price on the
keyboard yet, but Ideal spokesman
Richard Ault promises it will cost less than
the games unit itself.
Electronics companies used to wean you
onto the harder stuff — real home
computers — by getting you to buy a games
machine first. But now even the games
machine companies are realising that more
and more people are ready for the hard
stuff, and can’t get it fast enough.
ColecoVision was released in North
America last year, aimed at the Mattel and
Atari video games market. But CBS and
Ideal realise that it just isn’t on to bring out
a non-programmable machine in the UK.
Despite this reasoning the keyboard will
not be available for the ColecoVision
launch . This means it will not be possible to
access the machine’s computer capabilities
immediately. The machine tested played
games wonderfully and featured sophisti-
cated high-resolution graphics. But when
struck with the programmer’s natural itch
to create, I could do nothing with it.
Mr Ault concedes that the success or
failure of the machine in this country will
depend on the arrival of the keyboard. He
vows that it will be on sale by autumn.
He seems to shudder at the mention of
Mattel's long-standing — and unfulfilled
— promise to supply a computer keyboard
for the Intellivision games machine and
swears Ideal will not ‘do a Mattel'.
But the ColecoVision promotional
material currently available seems to make
the same kind of vague keyboard promises
that characterised Mattel’s no-show.
One example of this is that, although the
other plug-ins for the Coleco are well-
documented. there is not even a mock-up
of the computer keyboard in company
promotional brochures.
So until that keyboard turns up you'll
have to be content with £20 CBS Electronic
games cartridges.
The game supplied with our machine
was Donkey Kong, a licensed version of
the popular arcade game of the same name .
CBS Electronics has the market cornered
on this cartridge, and sells the same game
for both the Mattel Intellivision system and
the Atari VCS. Coleco’s version of the
game seems better than the ones im-
plemented on Atari and Mattel machines.
Even without a keyboard the Coleco
Vision can be credited with a good deal of
ingenuity in design. Like any good compu-
ter, it’s adaptable and expandable — even
using it as a games machine.
But software availability is the key to
success, and Coleco's designers have
developed a highly versatile expansion
module interface on the front of the
machine. Plug-in modules allow the
machine to play all the games cartridges
currently available for both Atari and
Intellivision machines.
You will also be able to plug in the
computer keyboard and a ‘Turbo Drive’
module to the interface. The turbo drive
module wasn’t available for our test, but
looks like good fun. You plug the joystick
into it to serve as a gearshift, and use the
wheel and foot-pedal provided to drive
down the on-screen highway generated by
the computer.
We thought the hand-controllers were a
nice compromise between the limiting
Atari joystick and the rather pedestrian
Intellivision keypad. The controllers con-
sist of an eight-directional disc on a stick —
a sort of upside-down joystick — at the top,
two independently controlled fire buttons
at the side, and a 1 2-key numeric pad which
can handle the overlays needed for
Intellivision games.
As a pure games machine, it’s unlikely
you will find anything in the £130 price-
range to touch the Coleco machine's
quality graphics and playability. And if you
want something that can turn into a
computer when you’re tired of either
buying or playing games, keep the Coleco
in mind.
We wouldn’t advise buying the Coleco
machine on the assumption that you’ll soon
be able to use it as a computer, but you can
draw that conclusion if Coleco meets its
summer deadline for release of the
keyboard in the US.
PCN MAR 25. 1983
27
Ko-Kon Chung
MORE IDEAS THA
MORE PROGRAMS THA
LESS MONEY THA
PROGRAMS FOR EDUCATION, HOME, BUSINESS, AND GAMES - FOR
SINCLAIR, BBC, RESEARCH MACHINES, APPLE, COMMODORE,
ACT SIRIUS, TRS-80, IBM, ICL, and more each month. . .
HO^H^OONfMOOSfftWCEW^K?
Most micros connect by a
standard DIN plug and
coaxial cable to an adaptor.
They're portable, so you con
use the system wherever you
put your computer and
telephone.
MKRONET
ADAPTOR
Simply dial Micronet's number
and enter your subscriber
number into the keyboard. A
'welcome to Micronet'
message appears on the
screen.
You're on-line to one of the
world's largest databases.
PRESTEL
MICRONET 800s
thousandsof ideas — packed
pages - games, education,
business software, club news
and information.
When you have all the information
you need - or you've finished
'downloading' software to your
computer's memory - just switch
off the telephone link at your
keyboard and replace the receiver.
28
PCN MAR 25, 1983
N A THINK-TANK .
N A SOFTWARE HOUSE.
N YOU'D EXPECT.
Whether you bought your computer for
games, business, or education, you can spend a
lot of time wondering what to do with it. And then
spend a lot of money on packaged games and
applications software.
NOW you can bring your computer to life -
economically - by joining the amazing new
MICRON ET 800 service: a vast database with
hundreds of FREE games, plus business and
education software, computer news, special offers
and 'big prize' opportunities for you to compete
against the system - and win!
MICRON ET 800 is packed with ideas and
information. And there's no waiting - you get
programs straight down the phone line! Updates on
operating systems . . . school and college programs
. . . gobble man . . . invaders . . . business
packages. They're constantly renewed.
And hundreds of them are free: you simply turn
on your micro, dial up MICRONET 800 and
LOAD.
Sounds expensive? Here's the surpris^!
All you pay for is a low-cost adaptor (in most
cases just £49) to link your computer to your
telephone, plus a MICRONET 800 subscription of
about £1 per week. Then, via your computer and
telephone line you will be able to access over
30,000 ideas-packed 'pages' of the MICRONET
800 service, and call down the software you want
to your own computer! Look at just a FEW of the
services already available on Micronet for you to
call on:
• Fro# Telwoftware Indexed by subject and by
name of micro, a huge slection can be looded down
onto your computer.
• Educational Exchong* Library Schools and
colleges are already preparing to display programs
written by students and teachers, so many can
benefit from them easily and economically.
• Applications Guides Quick-reference guide by
subject and by micro name shows you available
applications software. You can move from the guide
to further details held on the system if you wish.
• Demonstrations: Check through the features of
the software packages that interest you — privately
and without obligation. Order only if you're sure if s
what you need.
• Purchase 'Downloadable' Software: Many
'telesoftware' programs can be bought from the
system and loaded down direct to your micro. But
don't worry — there's plenty of warning if any
MICRONET service you're planning to use carries a
charge.
• Electronic Moil A mailbox service on Prestel
allows you to exchange messages with other Prestel
or Micronet users. Messages are held securely and
only you con collect them.
• Bulletin Board: For an additional subscription you
can operate your own bulletin board — club news,
for example, like tips, swap-shop for second-hand
items and so on.
• Phone-In If you're away from your computer but
need to send a meassage to another Micronet user
— call the Micronet 800 service by phone and we'll
send the messoge for you.
• Prestel: Over 200,000 pages of information on
British Telecom's established service. Facts and
advice on finance, business, entertainment, features
and even direct bookings for travel, holidays, etc.
# Product ond Service Guide: A constantly updated
reference source — covering product comparisons,
software reviews, dealership and price details and
all the 'best bu/ information.
# Action Advertising Includes features, just like a
magazine, including jobs and classified ods. If
you've read an article that interests you, through
MICRONET you can find out about the
manufacturer, the dealers, the prices, and even
order the product via your micro!
# User Group News: The Amateur Computer Club
and many others like ALCC, BASUG, ICPUG, TUG,
TRS 80 UG, will maintain their news and reference
service on Micronet.
# Big Prize Games: Micronet offers a range of
games and quizzes to keep you entertained and
involved — and there'll be big prizes too!
SOUNDS FANTASTIC? THAT'S JUST THE START!
MICRONET 800 is a completely new service
and we'll be adding to it all the time. Find out
more about what Micronet 800 has in store for
mi
IT BRINGS YOUR
COMPUTER TO LIFE!
you: return thiscoupon TODAY and we'll send you
a FREE FACTS FOLDER on Micronet 800 services
and details of how you can join!
Send to: MICRONET 800, Petersham, House, 57a Hatton Garden,
London EC IB IDT. I
O Yes, I am interested in the MICRONET 800 service. Please keep me ■
in touch with developments and send me details of the low-cost •
Micronet 800 adaptor.
□ I am interested in earning money on software I develop for the system. .
I am interested in:
Name
Add ress
Home uses □ Business uses □ Educational uses □
Telephone
Type ofcomputer_
PCN MAR25, 1983
29
fast £ctk>n
fantastic colour graphics ancK
capabilities. This gahieincliides
The UvSual ATLANTIS/StXJAMBU
featuras^Guide your submarine
Nautilus alohg the undersea
rockets, jelly fish, serpar
Only C7. 50 for
MODW.B forA+32K^
rB^mrc i
••• mmm •
« :W — B — i —C— I <
(JHBJHBjiaMBn
IJK
the one to watch
CASSETTE 15 - LEAP FROG
The fabulous ‘frogger’ arcade game reaches
the BBC micro. Superbly written full colour
machine code version for the Model B (or
A+32K). Help the frog cross the road avoiding
the vehicles travelling at different speeds, and
cross the multi current river to reach the safety
of the lllly pads. The game gets progressively
harder - perfect for arcade addicts
Only C7.50 for MODEL B (or A
MODEL A/B
Cassette 1 : Star Trek/Candy Floss
(very popular) C6.50
Cassette 2: Family Games (hours of
fun) £4.50
Cassette 3: Mutant Invaders/
Breakout £6.50 ^
Cassette 8: Model A Invaders (M/C)
£5.50
MODEL B (or A+32K)
Cassette 4: Beep-Beep (Super
Simon Game) £4.50
Cassette 5: Beebmunch (full colour
Munchman) £6.50
Cassette 6: Super Hangman
(animated, educational) £4.50
Cassette 7: 3D Maze (fast and
intricate) £4.50
CASSETTE 0
MODEL B Invaders (or A+32K) (M/C) £7.50
CASSETTE 10
WORDPRO. (Cassette W.P. system). £10.50
CASSETTE 12
FLAGS. (Countries and Capitals). £4.50
CASSETTE 13
HYPERDRIVE (M/C arcade). Destroy
the Drone aliens in the caverns with
your laser tank. £6.50
CASSETTE 14
STRATOBOMBER (M/C arcade). Keep
the enemy fleet at bay in order to destroy
the rogue star ships nuclear reactor. £7.50
LULU
min i
• All Programs will run on all
operating systems
• All software in stock before we
advertise
• Send SAE for Brochure
BBC
MICRO
GAMES
nun
ffi 1 1 rr
PSION Vs CP
‘Lucky’ Geof Wheelwright loses his reputation on the gaming board to a brace of programs
Backgammon
B ackgammon is a far cry from the usual
run of zap and splat games for the
Sinclair Spectrum.
But now two versions of the age-old
Lebanese game are available on cassette.
The first, from CP Software, has been out
for some time and the second, from Psion
Software, is due to be released in two
weeks. I compared the CP game with an
exclusive pre-release copy of Psion’s
implementation.
The CP game is a fairly straightforward,
no-frills presentation, but Psion's features
three-dimensional dice, friendly chat, and
strategically placed bells and whistles.
Psion’s game
It started ominously; I knew I was in
trouble when the game took five minutes to
LOAD. Then I was asked which level of
play I wanted — there are four — and
whether I wanted to roll my own dice.
Being a bit of a coward I chose level one ,
the easiest, and trusted the computer with
the dice. I plugged on in the hope that I
could thrash the Psion program at its own
game.
I hoped in vain — every time I made a
play to take one of the program's stones it
would quickly protect them. Even when I
offered a stone in sacrifice, in order to get
the Psion game to leave one of its stones
unprotected, it wasn’t interested.
By playing this conservative game, the
Psion program was soon bearing off, while
I struggled to get the last of my men off the
bar and into my inner table. I was
practically gammoned, and the Psion
program won easily.
I was glad I hadn't put any money on the
game.
I went on to greater things, losing
spectacularly to level three. I'd accepted
the doubling of stakes, secure in the
knowledge that the Spectrum has no
pocket-searching peripheral.
My excuse is that I was dazzled by the
Psion program’s graphics and was there-
fore incapable of thinking straight. The
game starts by drawing a nice black and
white backgammon board with blue and
red stones, then the dice come rolling out
— in simulated 3-D.
CP’s version
I had no such excuse for losing to the CP
Software program. CP backgammon is
more of a rough and tumble affair, playing
aggressively and expecting you to put up a
fight.
I did manage to capture some of the
game’s stones — but it managed to take
twice as many of mine.
There were no nice graphics to distract
.me this time. The screen display is
utilitarian, employing a red and yellow
board with black and white stones. The
dice don’t move, and are ‘thrown’ by
means of the spots changing when you hit
Enter.
The animation that moves your stones is
also inferior on CP’s implementation.
Unlike the Psion game, where you actually
see the stones moving from place to place
on screen, the CP version just flashes the
piece that’s about to move. It then
magically teleports it to its new position
where it reappears about four seconds later
(a full second slower than the Psion game).
One redeeming quality of CP’s other-
wise lacklustre program is its on-screen
documentation of moves. Every time you
make a move a code representation is
shown on screen (eg it shows f-4 when you
move the stone at position / four points
closer to your inner table).
CP also scores a few brownie points for
on-screen documentation before the
game, and there are several paragraphs
explaining the workings of backgammon
before the dice are thrown. It’s a shame
that thoroughness of documentation did
not carry over to the information on the
cassette sleeve.
The paper documentation amounts to a
brief summary of how to LOAD a
program, and then a precis of the Interna-
tional Backgammon Association’s rules
for the game. There are more instructions
on the back of the cassette sleeve , but again
they concentrate on how to play backgam-
mon rather than on how to unlock the
secrets of CP’s version.
Only about one-third of the Psion
documentation discusses how to play
backgammon — the rest highlights all the
bells and whistles that make its game
unique.
Verdict
Psion's game also gives new meaning to
the phrase ‘user-friendly’. It offers you
hints on what moves to make if you get
stuck, although I have a suspicion the
machine is cheating.
If you want a game that puts up a good
fight , and caters more for the backgammon
novice than the aspiring champion, CP’s
version might be the one.
But if you want a backgammon program
that takes you from an easy level to a very
difficult one, all the while offering hints
and invitations to gamble, you should opt
for the Psion game.
This does seem to come closer to the
spirit of most backgammon games I’ve
seen played.
Both games cost £5.95, so your choice
depends on your playing philosophy.
RATING
Response time
PROGRAM A
CP Software
PROGRAM B
oooo
o
ooo
OOP
Welcome to the PCN inner table, where
we test two competing Backgammon
games for the Spectrum.
The Psion game’s response time
seems quicker than it actually is,
because the stones move across the
screen — but it was still a full second
faster than the CP’s teleport-style
moves.
Moving stones and tumbling dice also
give Psion a higher rating for graphics
— it doesn’t alter the game, but I was
getting more for my money.
Psion’s Challenge rating is also
higher, because of the conservative
game it plays. And if a novice like me
can take stones from the CP game
without too much trouble, then a more
advanced player should be able to beat it.
CP also scored low because it has only
one level of play, while Psion has four.
The fifth test was purely subjective, but I
felt that the CP dice were less random
than Psion’s — somehow, CP always
seemed to get the moves it needed to
steal my stones — who me, paranoid?
I’ve covered documentation in the
text, but it’s worth saying that CP could
have given more information about
what’s special about their program . GW
PCN MAR25. 1983
31
[NURSERY END]
What kind of micro toys are kids laying their hands on these
days? Deenagh Brook reports
Catching
the Toy
Town bus
E nd users are getting younger and
younger. Not only do we have
children of eight and upwards who are
mastering the mysteries of Basic at school
on their BBCs and Apples, but even the
toddlers are beginning to wriggle in on the
act.
There are two ways to help foster young
enthusiasm. The first involves embracing a
new philosophy in teaching children about
computers, while the second makes use of
popular micros to introduce the tots to
computing.
The premise behind the first is that
children between the ages of three and
eight are too young to appreciate or learn
anything from ‘adult' computers such as
the Sinclair ZX81 or the Apple.
Instead, you are encouraged to buy any
one of a number of new computers being
designed specially for nursery school age.
These machines are supposed to be to
computer age kids what cloth books and
flash-cards were to the generations before
them.
For some time computerised games such
as the Little Professor and Big Track have
been available. These have been a great
success and smaller children are rapidly
taking for granted these sophisticated
games.
And indeed, these toys have helped
considerably in teaching young children
the mechanics of data entry and com-
munication with an electronic toy. For
example, with Big Track you make a
tank-like vehicle move exactly where vou
want by giving it logical, step-by-step
instructions, pressing the appropriate
direction indicators followed by a number
which represents the distance to be
travelled.
Talking computer
The latest amusement for the three-to-
nine age group is a talking computer
produced by a company called Electro-
play. The machine looks like a quality toy,
durable and tough , about 1 2in square , with
a carrying handle to make it portable for a
small child.
But although it looks like and has the
appeal of a toy, it is in fact a sophisticated
computer and is designed specially for
small children.
The heart of the design is a touch-
sensitive pad which takes a large selection
of overlays. These vary from the simple
display of numbers and fishes , to one with a
jumble of words. All are very brightly
coloured and clearly marked. Each has an
ON and GO button and some have an extra
game facility.
After pressing ON the child is welcomed
by a female voice, and vocal instructions
and encouragements follow.
At first the voice seems difficult to hear,
but after a while the ‘voice on a chip’ really
does become soothing and much clearer as
the ear adjusts to the pitch.
In ON mode , when the child touches one
of the objects (numbers or words) the
computer responds with the spoken name
of the object. In GO mode, the voice asks
k If
Pf
1
K
\\ /
ggjS ir
111^ H
you to touch a particular image or word.
If the answer is correct the machine
responds with ‘Yes, that's right,’ with an
encouraging lift to the voice at the end. If,
on the other hand , the answer is wrong, the
voice is not discouraging. It merely points
out the mistake and patiently asks the child
to try again.
In the game mode, the child has to
perform a task, often at speed, but the
computer adapts itself to the speed of
response and announces the marks at the
end.
Progress
In the maths programs, the system
monitors progress during five turns, and if
four out of five sums are correct the
complexity is increased. However, if the
child makes several mistakes, the prob-
32
PCN MAR 25, 1983
NURSERY END
some adults too) to be less fearful of
computers.
Another vocal computerised toy, also
by Electroplay is called Pass Me .
ather like a space ship with six
coloured arms, each with a number at the
end. You would be forgiven for thinking it
is just another version of that old favourite .
Simon. But it isn’t.
Pass Me is described as a sociable game.
There are seven games in it, with six levels
of skill in each. These test memory and
reaction.
It can even trick you by calling out
numbers different from those printed on
the arms, and you are supposed to grab the
correct arm.
This time the voice is male and quite
commanding, which all adds to the confu-
sion. Pass Me tests different aspects of
memory and learning from those games
which rely on visual aids alone.
lems become easier so the child’s interest is
retained.
As you would expect, the Talking
Computer also has a talking clock.
It works on the same principle as the
other programs. The child can place the
hours and minute hands and learn from the
voice what time it is, and then have a little
rest with encourgaging remarks thrown
in.
The Talking Computer comes with 21
different programs. It is expandable too,
with a slot for a program cartridge
incorporated into the machine.
Electroplay is working on language
cartridges and more programs on sentence
construction.
All in all, this computer for small
children is impressive and well thought out
and certainly encourages children (and
Useful work
But there is a body of opinion which
believes that giving children computer toys
trivialises the subject and postpones the
time when they learn to do useful work on a
real micro.
The second way to help children into the
computing field means starting them with
something as simple as learning the
alphabet on a computer’s qwerty
keyboard.
Once they know the letters, and how to
spell their names, the youngsters can get
started on simple programming.
For example:
10 PRINT “MY NAME IS CHRIS’’
20 GOTO 10
would print the name down the screen and
teach the child, in two very simple lines,
quite a lot about programming.
There is much in computer languages
that is so logical and straightforward that it
might be a shame not to introduce the child
to it at an early age.
By using a real computer you could teach
the child a lot about computing without
limiting yourself to the program cartridges
produced by the toy manufacturers.
Maths on a micro
For example, teaching maths on a micro
involves the child in both arithmetic and
programming. The sum 2*3/6 would not
produce the expected result unless the
child remembered to use the proper
PRINT 2*3/6.
The flexibility of the computer also
offers facilities to keep the child’s interest
with sound, graphics, attractive screen
layouts, and to personalise programs with
the use of names and familiar places.
If you are a particularly enterprising
programmer, you could design simulations
which take your child through traumatic
experiences such as crossing a road or
taking the bus alone for the first time.
Obviously the graphic-type simulations
are easiest for the child to understand, but
they are also the most difficult to write.
An easier route to take, although one
not open to you unless your child has
learned to read yet, is a question-and-
answer-type program. If done creatively,
this kind of program could take the form of
an adventure game.
You could ask something like ‘You are at
the corner of a street, there is a zebra
crossing in front of you. The light is green
but the Walk signal has not yet been given.
What do you do?’ At this point you will
have your program set to look for a certain
character string: preferably one that en-
sures the child doesn't cross until the Walk
signal is given.
You might combine this quiz-type
simulation with a game. If you have
designed a simple game your child enjoys
playing, you could have a simple sub-
routine that allowed the child to play that
game every time he or she got a good score
on your educational quiz.
Lid off
Another aspect of micro education is the
actual physical design of the machine.
Provided your child doesn’t get too
‘handsy’, don't be afraid to take the top off
your machine and explain to the child how
everything inside the machine works. If
you don't know yourself, this might be a
good opportunity to find out (although you
should never take the top off if its likely to
void your machine's warranty).
When you feel the child knows enough
about the machine — and very often it
doesn’t take long before they know more
about them than you — give them the
machine’s user manual, their own disk or
cassette and tell them to go to it. You'll
soon find they’ll be coming back with
questions about problems you never knew
you could have with your machine.
Whichever route you choose — real
micro or computer toy — will depend on
your bank balance, your programming
skills, and the individual child.
But if you choose micros remember the
risk. It is embarrassing to have six-year-
olds correcting your programs.
PCN MAR25.1983
33
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dete sheets on any of the products listed belowi
SUPERSCRIPT The Ultimate CBM worprocessor *2*9.00
SUPERSPELL Oisk Oict lonery/Spel 1 lng Checker *150.00
SUPERSCRIPT Educetlonel Price (Send Offlclel Order) *50.00
MASTER erite your own detebase *295.00
PM96 Meaory Management ♦ Extra Basic for CBM 8096... *99.50
kram Keyed Disk Access (state which disk) *99.50
COMMANO-O (for Basic IV, state which Pet) *59.95
0ISK-0-PR0 Adds Basic IV to Basic II, to clear *29.95
SPACEMAKER 4-Roa adaptor (not for 8096) *36.95
VISICALC 32K/96K RRP *200.00, our price *160.00
ORDERING IMTORMATIOM i Add 15* VAT to quoted prices. Order by
post/lelephone/Prestel , using cheque. Access, Barclay Cerd or
Official Order. Telephone (01) 566-7256 for saee-dey service,
for over-the-counter sales, see your CBM Oealer. (Ref All)
imbf:'.. i
“This is the bit where he gives it all ten fingers!”
Is your high-performance computer let down by your low-perform-
ance fingers^ Touch n' Go will change all that In just 24 hours you
can master the computer's QWERTY keyboard and its numeric
keypad Foraet boring drills and meaningless hieroglyphics. Touch
n' Go introduces real words and phrases at the earliest possible
moment The computer gives you instant feedback on your
performance and can even store the results for posterity By the
end of the course you should be capable of 40 words per minute
Why use two fingers when you have ten?
Touch n Go is available from computer dealers and
direct from Caxton for only £25 plus VAT
It is available in popular CP/M and MSDOS formats
Please add £f p&p when ordering direct
Caxton Software Ltd 10-14 Bedford Street Covent Garden London WC2E 9HE
special
OFFER'
Deduct £1 per
cassette or disc
when ordering
2 or more
QUALITY
SOFTWARE
-sfc-
FOR THE
000
^ MICRO
ROAD RUNNER (32K) £6.50 Cassette/£9.90 Disc
The only full feature machine -code verson of the arcade game available for the
B B C micro Features include scrolling screen, radar display, checkpoint flags, fuel
gauge. smoKe screens. 6 skill levels, rankings, increasing difficulty and sound effects
GALAXIANS (32K) £6.50 Cassette/£9.90 Disc
Fast acton verson of the popular arcade game 4 types of Galaxian (in 3 initial screen
formations) swoop down individually or in groups of two or three 6 skill levels, hi-score.
rankings, bonus laser bases, increasing difficulty, superb graphics and sound
CENTIPEDE (32K) £6.50 Cassette/£9.90 Disc
Incredible arcade type game featuring mushrooms, flies, snails, spiders, and the
centipedes of course Excellent graphics and sound 6 skill levels, hi-score. rankings,
bonuses, and increasing difficulty as the spiders become more active and the
mushrooms increase
FRUIT MACHINE (32K) £6.50 Cassette/£9.90 Disc
Probably the best fruit machine mpiementation on the markets This program has it
all HOLD. NUDGE. GAMBLE, moving reels, realistic fruits and sound effects,
multiple winning lines This is THE fruit machine program to buy
ALIEN DROPOUT (32K) £6.50 Cassette/£9.90 Disc
Based upon the arcade game of ZYGON. but our version improves upon the original
arcade game itself You have to shoot the aliens out of their "boxes" before the
"boxes fill up Once full, the aliens fly down relentlessly, exploding as they hit the
ground Suitable for use with keyboard or joystick
INVADERS (32K) £6.50 Cassette/£9.90 Disc
Superior version of the okj classic arcade game including a few extras 48 marching
invaders drop ►xxnbs that erode your defences, and 2 types of spaceship tty over
releasing large bombs that penetrate through your defences Hi-score. increasing
difficulty, superb sound effects and graphics
SPACE FIGHTER (32K) £6.50 Cassette/£9.90 Disc
Arcade- style game based upon features from DEFENDER and SCRAMBLE 5 types
of menacing alien fire at you and may attempt to ram you Separate attack phases, fuel
dumps, asteroids, repeating laser cannon, smart bombs, hi-score. rankings. 6 skill
levels, bonuses
* WE PAY 25% ROYALTIES FOR HIGH QUALITY PROGRAMS *
Please add 50p per order for p & p . -r V.A.T. at 15%
* * * Oealer enquiries welcome
Calca Software £>
LAKESICC HOUSE, KINCSION HILL, SUHH£», KT2 701. Itl 01-SM-72M I
SUPERIOR SOFTWARE
Dept. PCNi
69 Leeds Road,
Bramhope, Leeds.
Tel: 0532 842714 //
DISC SOFTWARE
AVAILABLE NOW
34
PCN MAR25, 1983
PCN PRO TEST
SOFTWARE
Pete Galliard tallies the Spectrum-based Spreadsheet package against VisiCalc and Supercalc
Crash course in
spreadsheets
M icrol’s spreadsheet package for
the Sinclair Spectrum is cheap,
especially compared to VisiCalc
and Supercalc — its big brothers on the
bigger micros. And since the Spectrum is so
portable, it's practical to carry it around in
your briefcase to the office, home or a
hotel, and just plug into a TV set.
Features
The Microl Spreadsheet lets you SAVE
models you have created along with the
program itself. There is a CALCULATE
command, which allows recalculation of
the whole model. The REPLICATE
command allows calculation rules to be
reproduced over different parts of the
spreadsheet There's also the option to
modify those calculation rules, if you need
to do so.
You can make changes to format . such as
the number of decimal places, and it is
possible to alter the widths of columns.
Although you can display only four
columnsat one time, there is a jump facility
to let you move the window to any part of
the spreadsheet you wish. You can enter
text and numbers into the cells, and all the
standard arithmetic rules can be used.
There are also quite a few features not
there. You cannot:-
# split the screen to give two independent
windows on the spreadsheet;
# overlay data from one spreadsheet to
another;
• move, insert or delete specific columns
or rows;
• search for a particular number;
• protect particular cells from accidental
changes or sabotage.
Presentation
The package comes on cassette , along with
a simple 15-page manual. Microl says the
manual is being updated to include extra
information on how to design effective
models.
Getting started
It takes about three minutes to LOAD the
package from cassette. SAVEing and
re-LOADing each model takes about the
same time.
If you're new to spreadsheets, expect to
spend an hour or two learning how to use
them. The knack is fairly easy to pick up,
especially if you are used to playing with
numbers. The layout itself is identical to
that used in larger spreadsheets.
The commands are easy to use — they
are simple, reasonably memorable, and
consist of single-letter or single key
commands. Most are the initial letterof the
action you wish to perform, and all are set
out in a single long list in the manual.
One of the most annoying problems with
this package is the extremely slow response
when moving beyond the limit of the
window. Program crashes are also fre-
quent and easy to cause.
There are no DELETE. INSERT and
MOVE commands, and this reduces the
package's scope. Aligning numbers with
decimal positions is also a problem.
I used the package to build a budget
model for testing, and I found that when I
entered a whole number of pounds, with
zero pence, the layout ended up looking
confusing. The program right-justified it
so that the pounds ended up in the pence
column. You would have to define a
different local format to cope with those
cells affected.
If you want good-looking reports on
your screen, you will need to spend a good
deal of time formatting it. But if you can
tolerate truncated titles and headings, and
just focus on the numbers, the model can
be built up quickly.
When the window passes beyond the
nearby range of five columns or 20 rows,
there is a delay of about ten seconds. I
carried out a benchmark test by building a
model of 26 columns and 3 1 rows and filling
the whole matrix to capacity with numbers
seven digits long. When the matrix was
recalculated I found it took six minutes to
complete. I tried recalculations with de-
cimal numbers and text information, and
got similar results.
The size of the model you can create is
limited. The package comes set up with a
default model size of 26 columns and 31
rows. The maximum number of columns
remains 26, but you can extend the number
of rows to 99, if memory space allows.
This package's reaction to virtually
every misdemeanour is to crash. It crashes
if you use invalid expressions or command
Keys, long calculation rules, and if you
reach the limit of memory size . Recovery is
pretty straightforward and the data is not
lost as all that happens is it dives into
Spectrum Basic. But program crashes
resulting from typing errors are irritating.
Verdict
Overall, I found this product fair value for
money. I had to fault it on reliability, and
the performance really was too slow on
larger models and when the window was
moved, not surprisingly since the package
is written in Basic. If you have a Spectrum
and are prepared to live with those
weaknesses, you will probably find plenty
of uses for Spreadsheet.
RATING
Features — B B H
Documentation — B
Performance — BB
Usability- BBB
Reliability — BB
Overall value — BBB
Name The Spreadsheet Application Spreadsheet
System ZX Spectrum, 48K Price £9.95 Publisher
Microl, 0223-312453 Format Cassette Lanfuafe
Basic Outlets Mail order. Boots, major
department stores
PCN MAR25. 1983
Kicrcn Phelps
CEMIN
PERFORMAN
It can do a powerful job for yoi
SPECIAL LIMITED
OFFER
Buy just any two programs at £19.95
and take one at £19.95
FREE!
Here's a range of software for the independent
businessman that’s designed to harness the power of your
micro to deliver the vital information you need in all key areas
of your business. A breakthrough on both price and
performance, each program is fully tested and comes with all
the documentation back up you need.
“Gemini's range of software is in the vanguard of
the releases for serious’ micro users . .
P*Nch Micro and Software Review
✓
CASH BOOKS ACCOUNTS
PROGRAM FOR
BBC MICRO . . .£95.00
One of the most innovative business
programs on the market. Most serious
accountancy packages are written and
coded by professional and competent
programmers. The Gemini Cashbook Accounting
program was written by practising Chartered Accountants and
coded by professional and competent programmers. This is a
fundamental difference.
This practical program is simple to use and will replace your
manual cash and bank records and by giving you instant
management information, it may even put your accountant out
of job!
With exceptionally exhaustive user documentation, full
technical back up and product update policy this program will
increase the efficiency and profitability of your business. Take a
look at the information this program will provide.
SPREADSHEET ANALYSIS
BEEBCALC £19.95
DRAGONCALC £19.95
FOR BBC AND DRAGON 39. Spreadsheet
processors have proved to be important
tools for using micros in business, scientific
and domestic financial applications.
Without any programming knowledge at all, you may:-
* Set up a computerised spreadsheet, with chosen row and column names.
* Specify formulae relating any row or column to any other
* Enter your source data and have the results calculated
* Save the results on tape (or disk - BBC) for later reloading and manipulation
* Print the tabulated results in an elegant report format.
* Experienced users may access saved files and write their own reporting or
graphics presentation programs for the results.
Some typical applications:-
* Small business accounting applications, e g profit and loss statements and
cashflow projections, break even analyses etc.
* Investment project appraisal - anything from double glazing to oil rigs!
* Comparing rent/lease/buy options
* Processing the results of scientific experiments or field studies
* Engineering calculation models
* In fact, anything that involves repeated re -calculation of results presented in
tabular or spreadsheet format.
VAT returns
♦ cumulative receipts and payments report analysed over the
standard profit and loss and balance sheet heading.
♦ option for departmental analysis of sales and purchases
♦ print out of all transactions
♦ journal routine for entering transfers between accounts and
year end adjustment for debtors, creditors etc.
♦ year end trial balance
♦ profit and loss account and balance sheet.
These statements can be produced at what ever interval
you require e g. monthly, quarterly or annually.
Coming soon:- Integrated Sales + Purchase Ledgers
DM.
Stock
Control
MOM
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Statement*
Spread
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(MAOOC*
Atcotmtmq
Word
protestor
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16* Of *8*
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32* ex 64.
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(166*)
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". . . the systems worked immaculately
when tested . . .'
‘Maiiist is a very professional piece of software . . .'
CWhich Micro A Software Review Fet> 83)
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A or B 39*
I S NEW
CE SOFTWARE
ir business at petty cash prices.
INVOICES AND STATEMENTS . . . £19.95
Compatible with most micros. Sec table. Ideal for the small
business. A complete suite of programs together with
generated customer file for producing crisp and efficient
business invoices and monthly statements on your line printer. All
calculations include VAT automatically, and the program allows your
own messages on the form produced. This program gives you superb
presentation and saves time on one of the most tedious tasks in the
office.
COMMERCIAL ACCOUNTS . . . £19.95
Compatible with most micros. See table. A gem of a
program, all for cassette, with the following features:- Daily
Journal. Credit Sales. Cash Sales. Credit Purchases. Purchases
- other. Sales Ledger Purchase Ledger. Bank Account. Year to date
summary. A fully interactive program suitable for all businesses. Files
can be saved and loaded and totals from one file carried forward to
another on cassette. Particularly useful from a cash flow point of view,
with an immediate accessibility to totals for debtors and creditors. Bank
totally supported with entries for cheque numbers, credits and, of
course, running balance.
MAILING UST . . . £19.95
Compatible with most micros. See table. A superb
dedicated database to allow for manipulations of names
and addresses and other data. Gemini’s unique 'searchkey'
system gives you a further ten user-defined parameters’ to make your
own selections. Features include the facility to find a name or detail
when only part of the detail is known, it will print labels in a variety of
user specified formats.
Dealer/Trade enquiries invited — generous trade discounts for quantity
Special ACCESS card instant sales hotline A1QRO
for GUARANTEED despatch within 24 hours . . . HSI ♦ W7JA I We#
24 hr Ansaphone Service.
All enquiries other than credit card sales to 03952-5832
Gemini. Functional Software Specialists. 9, Salterton Road, Exmouth, Devon.
DATABASE . . . £19.95
Compatible with most micros. See table. The program that
everyone needs, the most valuable and versatile in your
collection. Facilities include sort search, list print if required
Can be used in place of any card index application, once purchased
you can write your own dedicated database to suit your particular
needs with a limitless number of entries on separate cassettes
prg STOCK CONTROL • . * £19.95
Compatible with most micros. See table. Dedicated
software with all that’s necessary to keep control of stock.
This program will take the tedium out of stock control and
save time and money. Routines include stock set up, user reference
number, minimum stock level, financial summary, line print records,
quick stock summary, add stock, delete/change record and more
r^l HOME ACCOUNTS . . . £19.95
pBf*® Compatible with most micros. See table. Runs a complete
home finance package for you with every facility necessary
for keeping a track of regular and other expenses, bank
account mortgage, H.P. etc. This program also allows you to plot
graphically by Listograms your monthly outgoings.
WORD PROCESSOR . . . £19.95
Compatible with most micros. See tabie. This program
features routines found in much larger and more expensive
packages with a typical word length of 5-6 letters it allows
for around 1000 words in memory at one time Ideal for the user who
requires a simple program to write letters on his computer Features
include, block delete, block insert, search and replace, edit text, display
text and more.
i
Tick the box for Program you require Prices include VAT and Package and Postage
Please supply the following cassette software
Database £1995 □ ZX81 16K Database
Stock Control £19.95 □ BBC Cash Book <** on**
(Willing lhe .......
£1995 □ Osborne Disk Database
£23.95 □
invmco w iu juacimci
Commercial Accounts
£19 95 □ Word processor
£19.95 D
no qc n
Home Accounts
Nmm
£19.95 □ Beebcalc
Dragoncalc
£19.95 □
Adrlracc 1
Mnrhin* Tvne
Memory Size
1 rrvlrn/ . _ m
Make cheques and postal orders payable to Gemini Marketing Ltd.
Diners Card Number
Access Number
%#W(UI Signature
Gemini. Functional Software Specialists, 9 Salterton Road, Exmouth, Devon
f
PCN PRO TEST
SOFTWARE
Axes, textures and colours are plottingto boost the IBM’s gr aphics. M ike Whitney investigates
Easy as pie? Not quite
T he IBM PC's graphics capabilities are
superb — once you’ve slotted in the
necessary hardware extras. A small
selection of software packages have be-
come available for this micro in response to
the growing awareness of the potential of
graphics in the office and lab. Numeric
values can be worked up into the much
more accessible form of line-graphs,
bar-charts and pie-charts, displayed in
colour.
The Chartman system is one of these
packages. It comes in three models, I, II
and III. I reviewed Chartman II, which
seems the most flexible in terms of the
peripherals it supports. It is fairly complex,
and from its documentation appears to be
aimed chiefly at the graphicsdepartment of
largish firms.
You can attach one of three different
colour plotters or three dot-matrix printers
with graphics option. The plotters will give
the best quality hard-copy output.
Features
For line-graphs and bar-charts you can
specify headings, axis ranges and line-type
or bar-colour and texture, and whether
grids are required. You can also specify
axis labels, and supply up to three lines of
footnotes.
Up to six separate lines can be presented
on a line graph, each in its own colour.
Lines can be continuous or in various kinds
of pecked format. Two y-axes can be
specified, with different ranges — one on
each side — and you can choose linear or
log scale for any or all of the axes.
Up to 60 points can be specified for each
line — enough for business applications.
The log-scale option for the axes is not
available for bar-charts and you can only
have a single y-axis. You can display the
bars in simple format; stacked format for
two or more sets, where you want to place
the bars for separate sets above one
another; and bunched for two or more sets,
to display the items for each x-axis point
side-by-side.
You can choose from a range of three
colours and six textures for each set of
points. Up to six sets of data can be
displayed simultaneously, but this limits
the number of points that can be displayed
in the chart. The charts can be displayed in
one of six formats, including horizontal,
vertical and ‘three-dimensional’.
Pie charts can be labelled with percen-
tage or absolute values. You can also
highlight one or more slices, specify the
colour and texture of each slice, and have
the pie shown in 3D.
Presentation
Chartman comes with a loose-leaf manual,
in a box matching standard IBM format.
Three diskettes containing the programs
for producing line graphs, bar-charts and
pie-charts are included. The manual has
about 140 pages of text, and contains
numerous photographs of screens and
charts. But it is long-winded in parts, and
the information isgiven in a peculiar order.
Getting started
I met some problems at first. The system
stopped dead on two occasions, refusing to
respond to any keypress. The message
SYSTEM ERROR ENCOUNTERED
— PRESS ANY KEY TO CONTINUE’
came up once, the system again refusing to
respond to any keypress.
On some of these occasions the data
entered into the system was lost. I couldn't
reproduce the errors, so could not pinpoint
the circumstances.
I also had problems entering data, but
Bonsai — which had supplied the review
copy — solved this problem. Two of the
three system disks supplied were confi-
gured for a colour monitor, and I was using
monochrome.
Chartman is controlled by using the
IBM's ten function keys to select menu
options. I would prefer to be able to flick
down the menu with the space-bar and then
press ‘Enter’. Things are made worse by
the slowness of the system's responses —
the message ‘“PLEASE WAIT**’ is
frequently on the screen for long periods.
The programs are written in IBM's
Basic, which is notoriously slow, but
Bonsai says they will be issued later in
compiled form.
The chart options provided everything
that could reasonably be wanted. The
screen display of the finished chart was
excellent, with one reservation. The re-
solution of the graphics screen on the IBM
is lower than that of the test screen, so the
text in the charts is poorly-formed.
This is acceptable for letters, but the
numeric characters were difficult to read.
Fortunately, the plotter printouts, far from
suffering this disadvantage, are superb.
The charts can be plotted onto transparent
paper for projection, or on plain paper.
The normal output will be scaled to the
maximum size of the plotter paper, but you
can reduce the scale of the chart by using
the plotter hardware options. Thus you can
plot several charts on the same sheet.
There are unnecessary problems in file-
handling — for example, if Chartman
cannot find its system diskette, the SYS-
MARKET NICHE & PR00UCT POSITIONING
•CEO OF LIQUID SOAP IN BAR SOAP DOMINATED MARKET
TEM ERROR’ message comes up, and
you have lost your data. It is impossible to
use the same data for a different type of
chart — you re-enter each separately.
Chartman can read ‘data interchange
format' ( DIF) files, such as those produced
by VisiCalc and Microplan (but not
Supercalc). It also has a nice feature in that
a ‘slide presentation’ can be made on the
screen, by saving the required selection of
charts on the diskette, and building a slide
presentation text chart; timing of slide
changes can be preset or keypress-driven.
Overview
This package is not too easy to use on an
occasional basis, is expensive, and you
must buy costly hardware extras to use it
fully. It would certainly be worth looking at
competing products before deciding.
RATING
Features — 2 BBS
Presentation — B B B
Performance — B B B
User interface — B B H B
Reliability — BBB
Overallvalue — BBBB
TOTAL MEMBER-BANK BORROWINGS FROM THE FEDS
ANNUAL DATA FOR THE FIRST NATIONAL BANK OF XVZ
Name Chartman II Application Business
graphics System I BM personal computer.
128K, single disk drive, colour graphics
adaptor, graphics monitor Price £395 Publisher
Graphic Software Format Disk Language Basic
Other versions C hartman I, monochrome only,
£295 Outlets Bonsai. 01-580 0902, mail order or
off-the-shelf.
38
PCN MAR25.1983
NOW FOR EVEN THE
DATA-PILOT
With NO computer experience at all you can now
have your wall-to-wall filing system on top of your desk.
DATA-PILOT will guide you. create and develop the
perfect record-keeping system for YOUR business
DATA-PILOT will write your program for you and it
will look as if you've created it all yourself
BE A DECISION MAKER with DATA-PILOT.
DATA-PILOT originally designed for the Olivetti
M20. is also available for other Micros.
As easy to use as a typewriter
No programming experience required.
DATA-PILOT will write your programs and modi y
them if necessary to give you total flexibility.
ASG
Our New Advanced Software Generator.
Allows the user to operate in as intuitive a way as possible
Using the ASG-II a system SPECIFICALLY
designed for your business can be developed at a very
economical price.
Most of those tailor-made systems will in fact be
cheaper than what you would expect to pay for a
standard package
Rapid and efficient technical assistance.
READY-TO-USE PACKAGES
FOR A WIDE VARIETY OF USERS
Constantly available • HELP'' features guide you in
your dialogue with YOUR system.
1
Phone Andy Williams ■
Of post your coupon NOW 1
yTOtL
SSjpi mr-v-
irN
KD
Holmesdale Wofks South Darenth
Darttofd Kent OA4 9JP Telex 896454
( 0322)863434
|
Send to:
PCN^8|
EVRIDGE COMPUTERS LTD.,
■
Holmesdale Works. South Darenth. Dartford. Kent DA4 9JP 1
My interests are:
I Name: ...
Position:
Address:.
Tel:
Gil Anthony Systems
MAILORDER PRICES
WITH SUPPORT JUST A PHONE CALL AWAY
SOFTWARE FROM THE PEOPLE WHO UNDERSTAND IT
— SOFTWARE FOR THE IBM PERSONAL COMPUTER —
dBASE II
The powerful, easy to use
RELATIONAL DATABASE
£39750
including post and packing
MULTIPLAN
From the people who brought you
MSDOS. Reads Visicalc files
£160.50
including post and packing
VISICALC 256K
The classic favourite, treed
to use the new larger memories
and faster too on new CPUs.
£146 50
including post and packing
dBASE II ADDONS
dBASE window. dBPLUS. dUTIL
quickcode,
dGRAPH and Abstat
For prices please call
MILESTONE
Planning and scheduling
protects with up to 200 activities
using Critical Path Analysis
£33250
including post and packing
VISI ADDONS
Visifile. Visidex.
Visischedule.
Visitrend/plot,
For prices please call.
WORDSTAR PLUS
MAILMERGE
For the purist, now kinder on the
IBM PC. Sinus and Tl PC
generation of machines
With Mailmerge
£251 .50
including post and packing
VOLKS WRITER
Your secretary can use this
word processor without a
Ph D in Computer Science
--- and so can you
£142 50
including post and packing
SUPERCALC
Flexible formatting, windowing
and worksheet building provide
a powerful tool for planners
£1 79.50
including post and packing
SELECT
Menu-driven word processing for
managers, authors and
occasional users With tutor.
£329 50
including post and packing
SOFTWARE FOR NORMS -
NOT NURDS
- FOR PRICES ON OTHER SOFTWARE PRODUCTS -
FOR THE IBM PC. PLEASE CALL
FOR SOFTWARE ON OTHER MSDOS SYSTEMS. PLEASE CALL
ALL PRICES. PLEASE ADD 1 5% VAT
SOFTWARE DISTRIBUTED ON 160K DISKETTE
POST AND PACKING INCLUDED IN UK —
WE EVALUATE THE SOFTWARE WE SELL
SOFTWARE FROM THE PEOPLE WHO UNDERSTAND IT
— SOFTWARE FOR THE IBM PERSONAL COMPUTER —
Gil Anthony Systems
Shepherds. Tydehams, Newbury. Berkshire. RG14 6JT. United Kingdom
Newbury (0635) 35831
PCN MAR25, 1983
39
PCN PRO TEST
SOFTWARE
David Janda runs Wordplay, a BBC WP package which finds space for pretty pictures.
Turtle in the text area
Low-cost text processing on the BBC
micro is the aim of a new package from
Hexadecimal Press. Wordplay is a text
formatting program designed to make the
preparation of documents easier. The text
to he formatted is interspersed with special
commands that Wordplay understands,
and when the program is run a neatly laid
out, paged and justified document is
produced on a printer.
The program works on Models A and B ,
but remember that the larger the document
to be formatted, the larger the memory
requirement will be. I used Model B with
an Epson MX80/FT printer.
Features
The text to be formatted is entered at
memory location 3000 hex. Using the
Beeb’s existing editing functions, each line
of text is preceded by a line number just as
in Basic programs. Then the Wordplay
commands follow the line number. So to
print Hello Mum' in the centre of the page,
type:-
10\ceHello Mum
Wordplay will detect the backslash ‘Y,
which tells the program that one of its
two-letter commands is to follow. The
command ‘ce’ , means centre the rest of the
text in line 10.
The program recognises 30 commands.
These functions range from setting tabs to
defining page-lengths. Three of them are
\ch,\es and\go. The first two allow the
user to send non-printable ASCII charac-
ters — such as formfeed — to the printer.
With\ es, an escape character is sent before
an ASCI I character . These two commands
let the operator use printers other than the
Epson MX80/FT for which Wordplay is
designed.
I have not seen the command\go x in any
other text editor or word processor. It
allows execution of a sub-program at line x .
With es, an escape character is sent
before an ASCII character. These two
commands let the operator use printers
other than the Epson MX80/FT for which
Wordplay is designed.
I have not seen the command go x in
any other text editor or word processor. It
allowsexecution of a sub-program at line x.
With this facility you can print some text,
go to a sub-program which computes, say,
the 12 times table, print the results and
then continue with the text.
Some extra features would have been
useful. In its present form. Wordplay
cannot, for example, underline or produce
double line/word spacing.
Presentation
Unfortunately not all is roses with Word-
play. Seven sheets of documentation come
with the cassettes and these are repeated
on the Wordplay cassette as two ‘pro-
grams’ named ‘INSTRUCT' and
‘NOTES’. These allow the user to LOAD
120\bt \*kl
130\c* Getting Started with WORDPLAY
140\ce
ISO \mk 1 \bo \*H
! 60 \oe
1 70\sk2
180(1) To load the program
190\ta LOAD "WORDPLAY"
200\«k2
210(2) To load a text file called TEXT
220\ta (LOAD "TEXT" 3000
230\*k2
240(3) To set up the function keys
2SO\ t a First load WORDPLAY <1>
260REM\ta RUN
270\ta Line length^O <ci
280 \ t a Keys Initialized.
290\sk2
(1) To load the program
LOAD "WORDPLAY"
(2) To load a text file called TEXT
•LOAD "TEXT" 3000
(3) To set up the function keys
First load WORDPLAY (1)
RUN
Line length?0
Keys initialized.
Wordplay is this simple — If only you can get it
going. Here’s an example to help you.
and LIST them to see what Wordplay
commands were needed to make them up.
But the instructions are unclear.
Although all the information to get
Wordplay up and running is there, it took
several readings to understand how to get
things going. The information on how to
get to the text editing area and back to the
program area to run Wordplay is particu-
larly obscure. A page giving an example of
a sample run would have been in order
here.
An index of all commands is included in
the instructions, together with a graphics
dump using the Turtle Graphics proce-
dure. Another sheet details how Wordplay
sets up four function keys of the B BC micro
to make text editing easier, and also
provides information on parameters.
In use
After reading the documentation several
times I loaded the package. Nothing
whatsoever happened. Wordplay needs
text to act on. I was confused about how to
enter new text , as the instructions deal with
editing the existing text.
Referring back to the notes I learned
that RUNning Wordplay and answering 0
to the question ‘Line length?' defines four
function keys. These allow the user to skip
from the program area for printing to the
text area for editing.
User interface
There are few user friendly messages with
Wordplay. When it’s run, all that appears is
the logo and the prompt ‘Line length?’
Depending on whether you wish to print
text already in the text area or create text,
you have a choice . A reply of 0 activates the
function keys to create text. Once this has
been done, pressing function key 3 takes
you to the text area.
What happened next took me by
surprise. The message PAGE=3000:
END’ came up, followed on the next line
by INVALID PROGRAM?’ In fact, the
contents of the function key were being
printed on the screen, and the message
appeared because the machine couldn't
find a program in the text area.
It would have been a simple matter for
the author of Wordplay to have incorpo-
rated some helpful messages, such as ‘You
are in the ‘text area', rather than have the
other gibberish displayed. In the text area
the user is not in the Wordplay environ-
ment, and Beeb editing facilities apply.
After typing in the text to be formatted,
you have to press function key 1 , and RUN
has to be typed to get Wordplay going. I
found this cumbersome and would have
liked to see a few messages telling me what
was happening.
After the text has been entered and
Wordplay RUN, the line-length of the
printer and number of copies required are
asked for. Once these are entered a request
to turn on the printer is displayed and
Wordplay prints out the formatted text.
Reliability
The package is extremely stable in use.
Whenever it comes across invalid com-
mands as n prints the text, the message
‘INVALID COMMAND' appears on the
screen — but not on the printer. When
replying to requests for line-length and
number of copies required , a single copy of
the document in the text area is printed out .
Verdict
Wordplay works well, the formatted
printout looks good, and learning the
commands to format the text is easy
enough. Because it uses the Beeb's editing
functions you don't have to learn a second
set of commands to enter and alter the text .
The lack of messages and poor docu-
mentation is off-putting, but as these are
easily rectified I hope future versions will
be better. For £5.75 it is excellent value for
money, and together with the Turtle
graphics routines this package rivals others
at four times the price.
RATING
Features —
Documentation —
Performance —
Usability —
Reliability
Overall value
i Wordplay Application Text Formatter
i BBC Model A or B Prtce £5.75
Hexadecimal Press. 01-368 7561 Format Cas-
sette Language Basic Otbor versions Acorn
Atom £5.50 to be used with Micro-Power
‘Toolbox' Outlets Mail order.
40
PCN MAR25.1983
21 H ANOTHER GREAT GAME
FROM MICRODEAL -
gr GUARANTEED TO KEEP
f YOU PLAYING FOR HOURS
\ TRYING TO SAVE THE
BEAUTY FROM THE BEAST.
m ROLLING BARRELS!
jrlf KILLER FLAMES!
V I LADDERS AND RAMPS
% I TO NEGOTIATE IN THE
Ifl I BEST GAME EVER FOR
1 THE DRAGON 32
HOME COMPUTER.
FROM
TOM MIX
DRAUON
VWNtHS
BARRELS OF
- m«
MANSION
ADVENTIRE 1
PCN PRO TEST
H
HARDWARE
P
Richard King tests a Japanese newcomer and finds it fast, full-featured and built to last
The VDU tilts and swivels to prevent cricks in the user’s neck.
Toshiba
T100:
heavy
metal
micro
T bshiba'sTlOO micro is built like a tank.
It’s movable, not portable, and is
obviously well able to survive quite
severe bashings. The casing of the disk unit
is painted metal, though, so it’s liable to
scratch.
Presentation
The system tested consisted of the central
processor, a disk-drive unit, an American-
voltage colour monitor and a dot-matrix
printer.
Each was packed in a separate box to the
normal Japanese standard, and would be
satisfactory for shipping. All cables and
plugs were included.
Documentation
The documentation consisted of three sets
of ring-bound photocopies. The owner's
manual presented the most precise step-
by-step instructions for assembling the
system's components, and an equally
precise treatment of trouble-shooting.
Evidently Toshiba intends this system to
be sufficiently simple for even the most
non-technical of people to assemble, and I
feel they’ve succeeded.
It even has a one-page description of
each process which the more experienced
person would find valuable, though these
would have been better grouped together
rather than printed separately at the end of
each section.
The Basic manual was split into two
parts — a description of the Basic and a
reference manual for Basic functions.
Both were arranged as alphabetical
listings, with syntax diagrams and so on as
well as an example of their use.
I can’t help feeling there is a gap between
the owner’s manual and the Basic manuals.
The former is aimed at the novice, while
the latter would be useful only to a fairly
fluent person.
Construction
The construction of the main processor
unit is remarkable for its robustness. There
must be several square feet of sheet metal
inside it, and the circuit-board is sur-
rounded by sheet steel.
The housing consists of a steel tray which
carries the PCB . perforated on the sides for
ventilation. The upper half of the casing is
plastic, much as usual, except for a small
blackish window at the top. which swings
backwards to reveal a deep well.
At the bottom of this are two multi-pin
sockets, one rather longer than the other.
The documentation reveals that these are
for the RAM-pack and the ROM-pack, of
which more later.
Getting started was simple.
The cables were easy to connect. This
disk and printer-cables had bolts at either
end which screwed into the associated
threaded holes to prevent their weight
putting a strain on plugs and sockets.
On throwing the switches, the machine
went through a five-second self-test, then
booted the disk.
A point that was not obvious until I
studied the documentation was the fact
that the powerswitches must be thrown in a
particular order, at least as far as the
disk-drive and CPU go.
The others don’t matter, but if the
disk-drive is not powered when the CPU
has finished its self-check, then it assumes
you have no disks, uses the built-in version
of the Basic and reverts to a tape-based
machine.
Keyboard
The keyboard is well-made. It feels solid
under the hands, which is not surprising as
this also has a steel chassis. There is a
normal alpha keyboard which appears to
be a sensible compromise between the
needs of the real world and the rarified
musings of ISO.
On the right is a number-pad, with the
cursor-keys clustered in the top right
corner and various special keys above. At
the left hand end are the green GRAPH
and ESCAPE keys, with the eight
double-sized function keys in the centre.
On the right-hand side is an unlabelled key
which appears to be GRAPH-LOCK,
42
PCS MARIS. 1983
Chris Sk’M-nv
PCN PRO TEST
HARDWARE
COPY. LABEL, and BREAK.
Screen
Despite being a 6()Hz monitor, which
would have a natural tendency to wobble in
a 50Hz country, the display was good and
quite sharp for a colour-tube. The max-
imum resolution obtainable is 64() x 2(X)
which is sufficient to display 80 characters.
Lower resolutions of 288 x 192, 160 x
100 and 72 x % are available . The number
of characters on the screen can be altered
by the WIDTH command. It defaults to 36
when T-BASIC is first called, but may be
set to 80.
Graphics characters may be generated
either from the keyboard or by the
CHR$(n) function. These include solid,
dashed and double-line characters for
drawing out forms, a complete alphabet of
lower-case Greek letters, a selection of
upper-case Greek letters as used in
mathematics, the four card-suits, and
block-graphic characters.
Colours — the usual primaries, secon-
daries, black and white — were very good,
as they should be. Text was readable even
at80charactersalineinanycolour.
Storage
Data and program storage is on tape if you
have the basic machine, or on the
disk unit. This is a large metal box which
has its own power-supply and connects
with the CPU through a half-inch cable.
The disk drives are standard height,
and the kind which rotate constantly. This
has always seemed a bad idea to me.
Granted, the head is not loaded unless the
disk is to be read or written , but even so the
disk must be subjected to more wear than is
necessary. Certainly it doesn't make them
faster, which can be the only possible
justification.
Expansion
At the back of the CPU are a number of
different connectors. The most impressive
is a huge three-row D-connector which
carries the disk signals and also serves as
the system bus. The printer socket is
almost as large , which seems a bit excessive
for an ordinary parallel.
The other sockets are mostly DIN-
types. connecting to t lings such as the
monitor, RS232, tape and LCD display.
This was not available for test, but I
understand it's a 40 x 8 line 7x9 display,
which clips into two small sockets on the
back of the plastic housing.
The power socket is a three-pin, as
usual. The only other features are the tiny
reset button and a very small unlabelled
hole with two Molex pins just visible.
Plugging the RAM-pack into the well in
the casing gives you a kind of RAM-disk . .
a piece of memory which can be read and
written as a disk. It looks like a disk to the
program, it even has a small NiCad .
which makes it almost better than a disk.
The ROM-pack is used for major
programs, and Toshiba has plans for
dedicated programs. I was told that
OA-Basic will be the first program to be
sold this way, but unfortunately none were
available for this test. There will be a
word processor to follow and games car-
tridges are planned.
Software
The T100 is effectively two machines in
one. since it will run CP/M as well as its own
Basic-cum-operating system. The former
is so well known that I’ll just say it seems to
be fairly well implemented, with no
obvious snags.
T-Basic, the alternative mode of opera-
tion, is Microsoft's Basic 5.2, or so close as
makes no difference. Basic 5.2 is some-
times known as Gee-Whizz Basic, since it
contains so many commands.
The odd fact is that Basic 5.2 is reputed
to run only on a pseudo- 16 such as the I BM ,
on which it takes up an enormous amount
of memory — about 50K. So certain was a
colleague that he insisted on having a look
inside to check there wasn’t an 8086 there.
The only processors in the T100 are
outdated' Z80As, honest. Two of them,
to be sure, but only one runs the Basic, the
other being concerned with input/output.
I wonder why T-Basic occupies only 32K
and will do 10,000 14-digit additions in 40
seconds, when the PC and the rest of that
motley crew take 43 seconds?
I’m not especially keen on it : it has rather
the same feel as PL/ 1 — too big to be useful .
Also, I can't bear Basics which insist on
spaces. I know it’s to allow for long variable
names, but I don't see why these can't be in
lower-case, thus avoiding the clash.
T-Basic will not recognise NEXTN,
for example. This will cause an FN error.
No. not a function error, that’s FC. This
one means FOR without NEXT. It has a
little friend, too: NF. That means
NEXT without FOR.
Such clear, useful messages make T-
Basic a real swine to work with , quite apart
from the fact that it remapped the
keyboard so that certain punctuation
characters did not correspond with the
keys. Toshiba said this was because I had a
Japanese machine which normally dis-
played Kanji characters.
Included in the Basic are two subsidiary
languages, GML and MML. Graphics
Macro Language and Music Macro Lan-
guage can be manipulated to produce
fascinating effects, since their commands
are stored as ordinary Basic strings.
It’s possible to perform complex musical
operations, such as inversion and trans-
position, by applying the ordinary string-
functions to MML command-strings. The
equivalent operations may be performed
with GML.
In fact, Basic provides a control-
environment for both MML and GML,
permitting loops and conditional testing.
Support
Maintenance and support will be through
the dealer or from the Toshiba main repair
centre. The warranty period is 90 days.
Top right is a hinged panel which opens to reveal sockets for the ROM and RAM packs. The cursor
movement keys and some editing functions are neatly collected below it.
46 ►
PCN MAR25.1VK3
43
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The MIMI 802 is a supreme example of high quality British
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MIMI 802 has all the extras’ as standard - so when you buy
a MIMI you really are getting a microcomputer that will do
the job from the outset.
The MIMI’s operating system OS/M r is fully CP/M *
compatible so you have access to a very comprehensive
range of software, extending from word processing to
accounting.
During the next few months we will be announcing the
availability of TROJAN - a major software innovation that
totally simplifies the learning process and use of micros,
and dramatically eases the creation of new applications
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dealers now.
Features include:
Z80A at 4MHz
64K Dynamic RAM
• Integral D/S - D/D 5V5* ins floppy discs - 700Kb.
13 Full RS232C and Centronics parallel ports
• 96 Key ASCII keyboard - colour coded
• 1 7 programmed function keys.
- Light pen socket.
Elegant compact and light - 24 lbs.
OS/M operating system - fully CP/M compatible
• Disc format conversion facility.
• Wide range of software, utilities and languages.
• Super high resolution graphics
(512x256 pixels).
And now with:
• Winchester disc option.
Choice of orange or green display.
MONITOR SUPPLIED BY PHILIPS
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34 Musters Road West Bridgford Notts
Tel: 0602 813240
Contact Steve Conroy
Belmondo Research Ltd
68 Maple Road Horfield Bristol BS7 8RG
Tel 0272 427428
Contact Roger Banfield
City Microsystems Ltd
65 London Wall London E
65 London Wall London EC2
Tel 01-588 7272
Contact Anthony Coulson
Apollo Information Systems Ltd.
1 3 Southend Road Grays Essex RMi 7 5NH
Tel (0375)33088
Contact: Ronald Burrell
Broadway Systems (BCSS) Ltd
5-7 Mariner Street Swansea W Gla
5-7 Mariner Street Swansea W Glam Wales SA1 5BA
Tel 0792 462279/474598 01 -997 4764/0498
Contact Philip Gittoes
Computer Graphics Workshop
38 Ullett Road Sefton Park Liverpool 1 7
Tel 051 733 9604
Contact Noel Runnels-Moss
Procon Ltd
1 12 Albert Street Fleet Hampshire
Tel: (02514)20991/2
Contact: Arthur Thomas
F BRITISH MICRO
Penfold Works Imperial Way Watford Herts. WD2 4YY Tel: Watford (0923) 48222/43956
Kyle Data Services Ltd
37 High Street Ayr Scotland KA7 1 LU
Tel: (0292) 28541 1
Contact: Alex Gardiner
Easibee Computing Ltd
1 33- 1 35 High Street North East Ham London E6 1 HZ
Tel 01-471 4884
Contact Computer Sales Director
John Elmer Office Equip
32 Victoria Road Burgess Hill Sussex
Tel: 04446 5670/5791
Contact: John Elmer
Leicester Micro Centre
59 Regent Road Leicester
Tel: 0533 551869
Contact Ray Beresford
Malvern Micro Systems
Wych Cutting Upper Colwall Malvern Worcestershire
Tel (06845)68500
Contact Barry Lewis
B & D Computing
8 Sheep St. Highworth Swindon Wilts
Tel: 0793 762449
Contact: David Wakley
Microcosm Research
26 Danbury Street London N1 8JU
Tel: 01-226 9092
Contact: Jerry Karlin
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67 High St. Daventry Northants NN1 1 4BQ
Tel: 03272 77239
Contact: Mike Griffin
SDOGDO @i
Telex: 946024 Contact: Julie Hissey
◄ 43
HARDWARE
Processor type/speed:
Standard RAM/max RAM
Text screen:
Graphics screen:
Keyboard:
Storage:
Interfaces:
OSZIanguage(s):
Other languages:
Distributor:
Software supplied:
£2,575 with colour monitor, disk-drive, console
Z-80A at 3.99MHz
64K,32kor 16k RAM-pack optional
80 x 24or36 x 24
640 x 200,288 x 192, 160 x 100, 72 x 96. 8 colours
89 full-travel keys ( 8 programmable function keys)
Two double-sided , double-density drives, 285K per disk
1 600BPScassette with remote control, RS232,
Centronics parallel, system bus
T-Basic,CP/M
as on CP/M
Toshiba
CP/M2.2,OA-Basic.T-Disk Basic
Group 1
Group 2
DRAW U Up
D Down
L
R
E
F
Left
Right
UP and Right
Up and Left
G Down and left
H Down and right
Prefix B Move without plotting
N Return to original point after plotting
Prefix is optional, and will default to plotting and leaving the
cursor at the last plotted point.
Distance Number of dots to plot. Default is 1
M ( ± ) X, Draw a line from current position to either
( ± ) Y absolute position X, Y or relative if sign is
included.
A 0, 1 , 2, 3 rotate coordinates 0-3 times 90 degrees
C 0 . . 7 set line colour to a value between 0 and 7
S 1 .. 255 set step factor for drawing
X string execute a string as GML commands.
There are a number of associated commands: —
SCREEN 0 Text mode (either 36 or 80 depending on
WIDTH)
1 Low resolution mode (160 x 100, 8 colours)
2 High resolution mode (640 x 200, 2 of 8 colours)
LINE (X,Y)- Draw a line from point to point
(X,Y1)
PSET (X,Y) Plot a dot
COLOR I,P Set foreground colour to I, Background to P
(Background colour is optional)
CIRCLE X, Y, radius, (colour), (start), (end), (aspect)
Draw a circle with its centre at X, Y, which starts
at a point (optionally). Aspect will make ellipses
if required. All items in brackets are optional.
PAINT X, Y (paint colour), (border colour)
Fill an area enclosed by the border colour with a
paint colour. The place to start is at X, Y
PCN PRO TEST
Graphics Macro Language has several commands which are used much like any other Basic keyword.
Toshiba's moving picture show
Overview
The Toshiba T1 00 is a solid machine , which
appears to have been well thought out in
most respects. The few peculiarities of
T-Basic must be cleared up before that
language will be usable, but there seem to
be no such problems in OA-Basic or CP/M.
In these latter environments the
machine is rather ordinary, but that’s no
bad thing. At least it’s predictable and
probably reliable. There is an enormous
amount of rather cumbersone software
available under CP/M, which will make it
useful for business applications.
The built-in graphics and music features
and the comprehensive Basic give it a much
wider audience.
Overall, it’s a good buy . . .it has a solid
base behind it and will certanlv last.
My main feeling after this test was that
the machine did not seem to have any real
personality’. Perhaps it’s self-indulgent to
talk of such attributes in boxes full of highly
refined sand, but Sinclair and Apple
owners wouldn't think so . . . nor would
many others.
This is not a business machine alone , nor
yet a home machine. In fact it’s a direct
competitor for the Apple II market, but
unless the makers encourage similar atti-
tudes. it won't be such a big seller.
The Toshiba T100 system dot matrix printer and (left) the disk drive unit — large, solid and reliable.
46
PCN MAR 25. 1983
SYSTEMS INTERNATIONAL, INC.
Let us be your purchasing agent/exporter in the United States.
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PCN MAR25, 1983
47
A new Casio crams 124 operating instructions into one pocket. John Wadkin fumbles with the PB100
£
PCN PRO-TEST
HARDWARE
i
A calculated risk by Casio
C asio’s new PB 100 pocket computer is *
‘not ju$t a glorified calculator’,
according to the blurb. But in that
case, what is it?
It is too small for easy use,
and with tape and printer
attached it is not particularly
portable . So how viable is it as a
bridge between calculators and
computers?
Setting it up
The installation instructions
are logical and clear, although
the instruction manual is de-
tracted from by a rather patro-
nising series of substandard
cartoons. Parts of the two
manuals — one introductory,
one instructional — are not as
helpful to a first-timer as they
might be, as they tend to list a
program without explaining
either the logic or possible
adaptions. And there are no
quick reference notes.
There is also no help in
learning Basic via flow-
diagrams or other fringe techni-
ques; there is no reading list.
The machine itself is small
and compactly designed. In fact, it is
so small that it could be bigger all round
while still being pocket-sized.
There are 53 keys, including a standard
qwerty keyboard with shift for instruction
codes, a numeric keypad and a series of
command keys. This gives a total of 124
operating instructions. There is access to a
second keyboard via an extension mode,
but its use is not explained very clearly at
the beginning of either manual.
In fact it is used only for additional
symbols, and for lower case letters used as
part of character strings. None of these
symbols can be used for mathematics or
program instructions, and I feel more
thought might have been given to the
allocation of some symbols between the
main keyboard and this extension
keyboard.
I also feel the signs and symbols given are
worse than those of its downmarket
calculator ancestors. The signs for COS ,
SIN , and TAN . are given as ACS,
ASN and ATN instead of the more
common international codes COSEC,
SEC, and COT. Probability and statistics
calculations are made more difficult by the
lack of both a factorial or “!” symbol and of
a fraction facility. But the manual does say
that this is not just a glorified calculator,
and the availability of 10 program-slots
does compensate for some of these
criticisms.
Up and running
The various available facilities are: —
Mode 0*the standard default mode for
calculating and program-running
Mode 1 for program-writing giving access
Tight fit for the stubby-fingered on the PB100 keyboard.
to ten program-slots
Mode 2 TRACE, cancelled by mode 3
Mode 4, 5 and 6 are trigonometric options
and mutually exclusive
Mode 7 PRINT, cancelled by mode 8
Mode • gives access to the extension
keyboard and is self-cancelling
The screen is 11 characters wide, and
uses a 10 x 7 dot matrix for each character,
although each program line can be as long
as 64 characters. But it doesn't seem
possible to use the machine for straight-
forward typing without regular interfer-
ence from error messages.
The printer is neat , and produces a clear
output 20 characters wide ; but these minor
advantages are outweighed by the linkage
between the calculator and the printer
which is rather flimsy.
Putting the cassette interface together
doesn’t improve your confidence about
moving the whole unit. The block of
equipment is now no longer pocket-sized
— and you don’t have a carrying case.
Fortunately, perhaps, there
is no possibility of further
expansion beyond the cassette
interface and the official
Casio-supplied printer.
This is an unusual result for a
first foray into this price-range
of handcomputers, particularly
for a company of Casio’s
reputation.
Part of the difficulty lies in
the lack of any reasonable
definition of the machine’s
aims. Several pages into the
introduction we are told: ‘The
PB100 is not just a glorified
calculator — the PB100 is a
splendid device for beginning
the study of Basic.’
But the PB100 is not really
big enough to help students,
who will generally have more
opportunity for involvement
with computers than this
machine can give them. And
the people who do need
machines of this type are those
without such opportunities —
the younger children at primary
school and their parents.
These people are used to the ordinary
calculator, the calculator-clock, calcula-
tor-diary and the calculator-chequebook,
and are just about ready for the multi-
calculator. They could also be convinced
they are ready to* learn programming,
using Basic or perhaps Logo.
Verdict
Overall, for the person moving from a
clever calculator to a baby computer, the
PB100 is not really a helpful step. Too
many of the clever calculator functions are
lost in favour of gains which are variously
good, gimmicky, minimal or poorly de-
scribed and not immediately recognisable.
Nevertheless, as as nearly pocket-sized
machine for learning Basic habits of
programming it could be useful.
SPECIFICATIONS
Capacity:
Weight:
Dimensions:
Battery life:
£59.95; Rampack £13.95; cassette £25.95; printer £54.95
26 memories as standard, expandable
554 steps; maximum ten programs
12 character, single line LCD
53 keys, qwerty, calculator style
4.1oz
6 Vi x 2V4 x }*in
360 hours approx
Basic
through high street stores
48
PCN MAR25.I983
TELEWRITER"
the DRAGON 32 Word Processor
TELEWRITER
Telewriter is the powerful word processor
designed specifically for the DRAGON 32
Computer. It can handle almost any serious
writing job and is extremely easy to use. It
has all the advanced features you need to
create, edit, store, format and print any
kind of text. With Telewriter you can
quickly produce perfect, finished copy for
letters, reports, term papers, articles,
technical documentation, stories, novels,
screenplays, newsletters. It is also a flexible
and efficient way to take notes or organize
ideas and plans.
51 x 24 DISPLAY
The DRAGON 32 is an incredibly powerful
and versatile computer, but for text editing
it has some major drawbacks. The small 32
character by 16 line screen format shows
you too little of the text and, combined with
its lack of lower case letters, bears little
resemblance to the way text really looks on
the page. Reverse video in place of lower
case just adds confusion.
Telewriter eliminates these shortcomings
with no hardware modifications required. By
using software alone. Telewriter creates a
new character set that has real lower case*
letters, and puts 24 lines of 51 characters on
the screen. That’s more on-screen characters
than Apple II, Atari or TRS-80 Model III.
That’s more than double the DRAGON 32’s
standard display.
FULL SCREEN EDITOR
The Telewriter editor is designed for
maximum ease of use. The commands are
single key (or single key plus control key),
fast, and easy to remember. There is no
need to switch between insert modes and
delete modes and cursor movement modes.
You simply type. What you type is inserted
into the text at the cursor, on the screen.
What you see on the screen is always the
current state of your text. You can move
quickly through the text with one key cursor
movement in all 4 directions, or press the
shift key simultaneously for fast, auto-
repeat. You can jump to the top or bottom
of the text, and beginning or end of a line,
move forward or backward a page at a time,
or scroll quickly up or down. When you
type past the end of the line, the wordwrap
feature moves you cleanly to the next.
You can copy, move or delete any size block
of text, search repeatedly for any pattern of
characters, then instantly delete it or replace
it with another. Telewriter gives you a tab
. . . truly a slate of the art word
processor . . . outstanding in every respect
- The RAINBOW. Jan 1982
The only one with all these features
for your DRAGON 32
51 column x 24 line screen display
Sophisticated full-screen editor
Real lower case characters
Powerful text formatter
Works with any printer
Special MX-80 driver
Requires absolutely
no hardware modifications
★ Tandy colour version
also available
key, tells you how much space you have left
in memorv, and warns you when the buffer
is full.
FORMAT FEATURES
When it comes time to print out the finished
manuscript. Telewriter lets you specify: left,
right, top, and bottom margins, line spacing
and lines per page. These parameters can be
set before printing or they can be
dynamically modified during printing with
simple format codes in text.
Telewriter will automatically number A4
pages (if you want) and centre lines. It can
chain print any number of text files from
cassette without user intervention. You can
tell it to start a new page anywhere in the
text or pause at the bottom of the page.
You can print all or any part of the text
buffer, abort the printing at any point, and
there is a “Typewriter” feature which allows
you to type straight to your printer. Because
Telewriter lets you output numeric control
codes directly (either from the menu or
during printing), it works with any printer
(Tandy, Seikosha, MX-80, Okidata, NEC
8023, C. Itoh 8510, Centronics, GE
Terminet, Smith Corona TP- 1, etc.).
There’s even a special driver for the Epson
MX-80 that lets you simply select any of its
12 fonts and do underlining with a single
underline character.
CASSETTE INPUT/OUTPUT
Because the Telewriter makes using cassette
almost painless, you can still have a
powerful word processor without the major
additional cost of a disk. The advanced
cassette handler will search in the forward
direction till it finds the first valid file, so
there’s no need to keep retyping a load
command when you are lost in your tape.
The Verify command checks your cassette
save to make sure they’re good. You can
save all or any part of the text buffer to
cassette and you can append pre-existing
files from those you have in the buffer
already.
ASCII COMPATIBLE
Telewriter turns your DRAGON 32 into the
most powerful, lowest cost, word processor
in the world today. But that’s not all. The
simple ASCII conversion program provided
with Telewriter means you can use the full
power of the Telewriter editor for creating
and editing BASIC and assembly language
programs. It means you can use Telewriter
to prepare or edit text files used with any
data communications program.
Telewriter costs £49.95 on cassette and is
AVAILABLE FROM
DRAGON 32
DEALERS
NATIONWIDE
OR DIRECT FROM
SEND FOR OUR FREE
; SOFTWARE LISTS FOR
I DRAGON 32 & TANDY
| RANGE OF COMPUTERS.
I PLEASE STATE WHICH
I COMPUTER YOU OWN
1 Name
" Address
I Make / type of computer
Please include a 1st Class Stamp
. . one of the best programs for the Color
Computer / have seen . . .
- Color Computer News. Jan. 1982
Apple II is a trademark of Apple Computer, Inc.: Atari is a trademark of Atari. Inc.: TRS-80 is a trademark of Tandy Corp.: MX-80 is a trademark of Epson America. Inc.
DRAGON 32 is a trademark of Dragon Data Ltd
PCN MAR25, 1983
49
C ☆ TECH SOFTWARE
184 Market Street, Hyde. Cheshire 061-366 8223
ZX Spectrum Software
CENTIPEDE
must pant in between the number* on a mutbcotouroO
screen before you have to overlap Price tor SPECTRUM
wCS 00
SPECMAN
& FROGGER
price ot one' SPECMAN isp
type with great machine cot
with 3 to 5 ghosts power
ft
m
A
i
8
i
8
8
8
kJI
HOME COMPUTERS...
COMMODORE VIC-20
Computer £129.991
Cassette Unit £ 44.951
ATARI
400 Computer
£159.99!
800 Computer
£399.95!
Cassette recorder
£ 49.95!
Thermal Printer
£195.05!
VC5 Console
£ 89.95!
SINCLAIR
ZX8I Computer
£ 49.95
ZX16KRAM
£ 29.95
ZX Printer
£ 59.95
Spectrum 16k
£125.00
Spectrum 48K
£175.00
COMPUTER GAMES
Star Raiders Warlords ET
Berzerk • Defender
Frogger • Pitfall Spiderman
etc., etc., etc. from
£ 19.95! Some special offers
from £9.95!
PL US... PL US... accessories, computer stationery,
TV s at special prices, blank video tapes,
video library, microcomputer repairs,
FREE DEMONSTRATIONS.
Open 6 days a week. Access and Barclaycard
welcome. Mail order a pleasure (pfifp extra).
HOW AND WHERE TO GET
PRODUCTS
There are three ways to get the tape that you require Firstly you can go to one ot around titty retailers
in the UK and some more overseas, there is at least one in every town and several in ma/or cities
Secondly you can nng our Telesales on 061 366 8223 and Alison or Shirley will take your order and
tell you otany other games in which you might be interested
Lastly — the most popular way — is to write to us at the above address
6 MAIN AVENUE, MOOR PARK,
NORTHWOOD, MIDDLESEX.
(Opposite Moor Park Station Easy parking outside)
TEL: NORTHWOOD 20664
delete secti<
ition . . . tabi
The word processor for the BBC micro
P w .id replace din
oter . . . delete word>
gSJT l ove anc * copy . ~
. . . menuefci
„ j^<gs 0ct ier^|
V JJ I^Mbulatir
lultipidjimcil awii
ing footing . 1| L u ir|
rinter cotrol ps
itomatic searctran
. delete character
st scroll bloc rr
. tape, disc and Ec
lge numbering . . .
If
variable inden
ount
atic
. _ ^ ^Jsitioning . . .
. Jjave sections
running heading)
a variable page length . f . automatic paginc
printer cotrol codes ... ... delete section . . . margin posi
TIMES ED. SUPPLEMENT OCf 82
ACORN USER febB 3
BEE BUG dec/janB 3
Wordwise
The word processor for the BBC machine.
This ROM based word processor simply
plugs into one of the empty sockets inside.
Supplied with full spiral bound manual and
cassette containing an example document
and free typing tutor program.
Now available from stock. Quantity
Discounts
£39.00 + £1.50 p&p + VAT
Professional BJLC.
software for the home
PUTER
donaspfj
u
DeptPCNl
16 Wayside, Chipperfield, Herts, WD4 9JI. tel (09277)69727
50
PCN MAR 25, 1983
I s the conventional concept of ‘peripher-
al’ outdated?
Imagine a system that costs £49 to
start with but grows in modules to provide
megabytes of memory. It also enables you
to tailor character and graphics sets, store
programs in non-volatile memory, add a
printer and magnetic storage and control
robots or measuring equipment.
These are the claims for BASICare’s
Organic Micro. It consists of a marriage
between a Sinclair ZX81 and BASICare’s
range of modular memory and interface
cards.
B ASICare's Organic Micro concept cuts
across definable boundaries. It’s technical-
ly a series of peripherals for a Sinclair
ZX8 1 , but it’s also planned to offer a 16-bit
processor that ousts the host micro — some
peripheral.
The idea is that you build your own
system from a ZX81. You start with a
couple of modules to organise the memory
map and buffer the Sinclair signals. Then
you just keep adding more memory and
interfaces as you require them.
The physical problems of delivering
such a system have been overcome by
going high-rise. Instead of an untidy slum
of boxes and wires the modules interlock
and are fastened with 64-way bus connec-
tors on the bottom and top of each module .
So long as your ceiling is high enough (see
picture ), it should be possible to keep
stacking until the bank balance gives out.
The Organic Micro, says BASICare,
avoids the trauma of making the big leap to
a new system and writing off the old one.
When the system begins to show its
limitations new modules are simply bought
to bring it up to scratch. Eventually older,
obsolete modules can be removed as new
‘whizz-bang’ gadgets are bought to replace
them.
Like its owner, the system can grow and
change; continually replacing cells, but
keeping its soul intact.
The most immediate advantage to the
ZX81 owner is megamemory — up to four
megabytes. This sounds rather like towing
a lorry with a mini when you consider that
the ZX81 comes with IK RAM and has a
conventional address space of 64K. This
means the processor is capable of dealing
with only 64,000 characters of memory at
one time.
The BASICare system gets round this
problem with a technique called paging,
where the processor literally switches
between ‘pages' of memory.
Imagine a telephone network. Tele-
phone numbers of four or five digits can be
exchanged between people in the same
area. People living in another area could
have the same local numbers, so when a
connection is made between areas it is
necessary to dial out of the local areas using
an extra code of digits. The destination of
the connection is then determined by a set
of local digits. Paging’ involves much the
same technique (see diagram, page 53).
Peter Choi, the man who developed the
Organic Micro, sees a progressive increase
in the viability of solid state storage to the
point where it overhauls and replaces the
magnetic disk.
The micro of the mid to late '80s will
therefore have several megabytes of mem-
ory. This will contain all the user’s data files
and programs, and backup could be
provided by some form of tape system . The
memory need never be cleared, although
Mr Choi sees users initially saving memory
onto tape at the end of a session and
re-booting when the micro is used again.
By this stage true 16- or even 32-bit
microprocessors and their attendant soft-
ware will have put paid to 8-bit chips, and
the micro will be able to address megabytes
of memory. Remember, too. that even an
address space as large as one megabyte
could be multiplied by page switching — so
a user could conceivably have close to a
gigabyte of data — not just a DOS away but
literally at the fingertips.
Heady stuff — but what has this to do
with putting pep into a Sinclair. Pray, read
on.
Normally a manufacturer’s visionsof the
PCN PRO TEST
§-
EMZEZIE
The Organic Micro concept could give your ZX8 1 a gigabyte of memory . Ian Scales explains
PCN MAR25.1983
51
Ian McKinncll
If you’ve got an
OCTET KSR or MSR typewriter
interface * . now look
at the ADD-ONS available.
OCTET-TI
• Stand-alone cassette interface
unit and standard cassette recorder
• RS232 connection for WRITE
and READ operations.
• INFINITE memory storage capacity
(C15= 112.000 chars.)
• Switch selectable baud rates.
• Will connect to the OCTET -MSR typewriter interface and
other RS232 devices.
• Tape counter used to identify start and end of data
blocks.
• Extremely easy to use.
OCTET-CD
Standard cassette deck used in conjunction with the
OCTET-TI. Supports most standard cassette tapes which
are available from Duplex Communications Ltd. Facilitates
data block counter and 5 pin DIN socket for data read and
write. High speed, high density, storage eg standard C15
tape will store approximately 1 12,000 chars.
OCTET-TF
Tractor feed unit simple clip-on device with standard
tractors which are variable for most continuous paper
widths. Requires no workshop modifications.
OCTET-EI
• IEEE to RS232 converter for PET microcomputer.
• Connects to OCTET-KSRand MSR interfaces.
• OCTET -E I interface dimension 4 " X 7 " X 2 1 /*
• Unidirectional unit with facility to daisy chain a disk
drive/printer.
• Selectable Baud rates. (Standard 1200 Baud)
• Crystal controlled for stable transmission.
• GENERAL PURPOSE DEVICE; can be used between PET
and any RS232 device.
OCTET-AI
• RS232 plug-in PCB '
• Facilitates Apple I and II for RS232 serial connection.
• Simple installation.
• Selective baud rates.
• Allows connection to OCTET -KSR and MSR typewriter
interfaces and other RS232 devices.
• Full handshaking capability on buffer-full conditions.
OCTET-PO— Telex tape punch station
• Stand alone table top unit.
• Attractive, modern design: quiet operation.
• Punching speeds up to 75 char/s.
• Plug compatible with OCTET/MSR typewriter interface
OCTET-PR
As OCTET -PO but facilitates punching and reading of telex
tapes.
The Duplex Suss-Box and Adaptor enables the user
to make the correct connection between a computer and its
peripherals This is achieved by 'linking' the commonly used
signals of RS232C through a matrix block' and connector pins If the
user wishes to connect their computer to the OCTET— MSR or KSR
typewriter/printer then please refer to DUPLEX'S SUSS-BOOK
for guidance
Full details from sole suppliers: Duplex Communications Ltd and Duplex Communications (South) Ltd
Dealer Enquiries
Welcome
_ DUPLEX,. _
Communications
The Interface People
Midlands/North— 2 Leire Lane. Dunton Bassett, Nr. Lutterworth, Leicestershire LEI 7 5JP. Tel: 0455 209131
South- 52 High Street. Stock. Essex CM4 9BW Tel 0277 841011
•The OCTET-KSR and MSR typewriter interfaces are sold exclusively by BRITISH OLIVETTI and their distributors.
Please contact your local agent for further details.
52
PCN MAR25, 1983
PCN PRO-TEST
■M
◄51
rosy future must be taken with a grain of
salt. Most would rather sell computers to
an existing market they half understand,
and leave the future for another day.
The BASICare vision is actually being
allowed for in the present range of
products. The liftshaft of our fanciful
high-rise comprises a full 64-way databus
which could theoretically address data for
a 32-bit processor.
But in the medium term BASICare has
its eye on the 8088 16-bit processor and the
IBM PC operating system MS-DOS as a
likely upgrade path for Organic Micro
users. This is rather neat, as it resembles
the breeding strategy of the cuckoo.
The BASICare egg is deposited in the
Sinclair nest, grows in value beyond the
initial Sinclair investment then kicks the
Sinclair out and takes over completely.
BASICare is promising its 8088 housed
in a replacement keyboard unit for the
ZX81 . It is also working on configuring the
Spectrum and considering other makes
and models.
Ground floor module
Present configurations of the Organic
Micro always start with the Persona. This
‘ground floor’ module links in the ZX81,
and buffers its signals to perform a few
organising tasks on the data flowing
between the processor and the modules.
The Persona gives you access to most of the
features except memory over 64K.
To go any higher the Minimap system
must be configured. This acts as the
telephone exchange for the different 64K
areas of memory, and switches appropri-
ate pages in and out to the processor when
they are required by the program.
RAM 08 is a low-cost memory module
with 2K expandable to 8K by the inclusion
of extra RAM chips. RAM 16 and RAM 64
are available for the more ambitious.
Toolkit module
The DROM module is a taste of things to
come, and relates to BASICare’s concept
of permanent memory. It uses low power
CMOS static memory and 2 to 8K of
development programs or routines can be
held in place after power-down by a
long-life nickel cadmium battery which is
charged during normal operation. The 2K
segments can be protected against
accidental overwriting by manipulating
‘shunts' with cap pins protruding from each
module.
EPROMs are configured into another
class of module called Toolkit . The Toolkit
is a conceptual receptacle for handy
routines which can be called into a
program. The idea is that routines are
developed and tested on DROM and then
committed to EPROM and left on standby
for use with various programs.
Userfont comes as an optional extra for
purchasers of RAM 08 and DROM. Using
it you can create your own characters,
particularly lower-case characters, to give
the otherwise rudimentary Sinclair text a
bit of class. It also allows specially defined
characters to be combined to create blocks
Expanding memory on a sliding scale
Memory
Gjroup 2
This slide-rule diagram illustrates the
memory management of the Organic
Micro using Minimap.
Since an 8-bit address space is limited to
64K the Minimap’s job is to organise a
larger memory so the processor (repre-
sented by the slide rule cursor) doesn’t find
itself faced with two blocks of data sharing
some of the same addresses. This is done by
dividing the entire memory of the system
into three memory groups. Each horizon-
tal group is sub-divided into segments.
These each use the same set of addresses.
Memory group II has a series of 32K
segments containing Basic programs.
Memory Group III has 16K segments of
machine code or Basic routines, while
segment I must always have the Sinclair
ROM with its Basic interpreter plus some
extra information to organise the modules.
Using our slide-rule analogy you can see
that different memory groups can be ‘slid’
so any segment in group II can team up with
any segment in group III under the cursor
(processor). Together with group I they
then present a vertical 64K ‘page’ of
memory to the processor.
Imagine the processor processing in-
formation from a 64K page and using some
of the information gleaned from the
program to direct the Minimap to slide a
different configuration of groups II and III
under the cursor. Because several prog-
rams can be in memory on different
segments, it is possible to use the output of
one program from one page configuration
to provide input to a program on another,
multiplying the memory available for one
program. This is especially useful for
animated graphics programs.
of graphics for high-resolution animation
of games or diagramatic displays.
The Percon modules provide a means of
getting some of the results of these features
to the outside world. Pericon-a is defined
as a general purpose input/output tool. It
provides three eight-bit ports for connec-
tion to LEDs or relays. Pericon-b also
provides three eight-bit ports which consist
of 24 lines of buffered output. It can be
used to drive relays directly or very long
signal lines.
BASICare is also working on a fast-
transfer cassette machine and an analog-
to-digital, digital to analog converter.
To make use of the Organic Micro you
have to have a good grasp of programming
— the modules are mostly for people who
know what they are doing, or at least are
prepared to sit down and start learning.
BASICare suggests that a beginners’
system could comprise a Persona and
RAM 16, costing £46. 90. From there extra
modules could be added as the user
becomes familiar with the system.
This gradual approach would certainly
be wise. Nothing is handed out on a plate.
Commercial software is nil, except for
those small programs currently available
for the Sinclair. As these don’t make use of
the features you are buying it would be
foolish to rely on them.
The documentation is by no means
comprehensive and a few listings demon-
strating the animated graphics capabilities
of the system at its various stages of growth
would probably be appreciated.
The fact that the information provided is
rather terse shows that BASICare has yet
to consider the potential of its products as
an upgrade path for the massive crop of ZX
81 users. Many of them have already
outgrown their computers, and are hun-
grily watching for products which offer a
reasonable up-grade path.
But I am assured that BASICare has a
mass-marketing plan in hand.
System: Organic Micro Manufacturer
BASICare Microsystems, 01-735 6408 Prices
Persona £28.70, Minimap £34.45, RAM 08
(2K) £22.95, RAM 16 £25.25, RAM 64 £74.70,
DROM (2K) £37.90, Toolkit £20.65,
Pericon-a £26.40, Pericon-b £32. 15, Pericon-c
£40.20 Options Userfont £8. additional 2K for
RAM 08 £6.32, additional 2K for DROM
£7.48.
PCN MAR25, 1983
53
PCN PRO TEST
PERIPHERALS
Under the tutelage of Karl 'Dr Doolittle' Dallas, the Chatterbox turns out to be no dummy
Vic has got a lot o’gottle
E xperimentation is the name of the
game with the Chatterbox speech
module. Within minutes of power-up
I was getting intelligible sounds —
although some of them sounded like the
ventriloquist's ‘gottle o* geer'.
Its powerful features are done no
favours by the Chatterbox name and the
‘court jester’ logo, however. It looks as
though it is targeted at the nappy user
rather than the computer user, and you
get the impression that plugging it into an
unsuspecting Vic-20 will be the cue for
snatches of panto dialogue.
But let its potential speak for itself.
The Chatterbox is about the size of a
cigarette case and plugs into the expansion
socket of the Vic. It will also plug into the
mother-board if you already have a
RAMpack fitted.
There are two dongling plugs — actual-
ly, a 5-DIN plug and 5-DIN socket — for
which no explanation is given in the brief
but clear documentation supplied. You
just connect the Vic’s audio/video-out
socket to the monitor A/V-in, and sounds
come out of the monitor speaker.
If you're using a demodulator for normal
TV display, you plug the Chatterbox into
the socket, and plug the demodulator's
5-pin into the Chatterbox socket.
In use
Speech is synthesised by typing
‘allophones'. These are alphabetical sym-
bols which stand for 62 unique sounds,
including five pauses from ten to 2()0
milliseconds long. The allophones are
separated by oblique strokes, so my name
becomes: —
‘C/ A R/U/L/P5/DD/P2/ A/LL/U/S/S/'
P5 and P2 are pauses of 200 and 30
milliseconds respectively, the latter repre-
senting the small explosion that follows the
initial letter ‘D’ in a word.
For some reason t he a I lophone /C/ gave a
happier initial sound to my first name than
/K/, though both can be used. The /AR/
sound (why not /AH/, since it contains no
Y’?) seemed to need a brief *uh' before the
final ‘1’ — represented in orthodox phone-
tics by an upside-down ‘a’, and here by the
allophone /U/.
The whole name is stored in a string, and
voiced by calling SYS 4HMX). To voice
strings longer than the capacity of a single
VIC program line, you can concatenate
them into sentences. But you must remem-
ber to insert pauses between the words.
Any mistake will terminate the compu-
ter's interest in saying your word at the
point where the mistake occurred, as will
failure to terminate each word with an
oblique.
I never managed to get a satisfactory ‘w'
sound, but ‘/OO/EE/' sounded more like
‘we* than the more obvious 7W/EE'.
The voice itself is completely toneless.
and despite the north-eastern origins of its
(presumed) inventor, has a slightly mid-
Atlantic flavour.
Pressing ‘FI’ causes each letter to be
voiced as it is typed in . as well as screen-edit
commands such as RETURN or CUR-
SOR. (For some reason thisactsonly in the
unshifted mode, so that CsrDn is voiced,
but not CsrUp.) The constant vocal
commentary can become distracting if one
is typing in a program, but it can be turned
off by pressing ‘F3’.
The documentation consists of a 20-page
cassette-sized booklet, which begins with
a three-page introduction to the theory of
allophones. This can be skipped. Tables of
the actual allophones and example words
are also included. The words are printed
with the allophones separated by dashes
rather than obliques, and this could lead
users astray.
I found a few minor errors and confu-
sions. The suggestion that 7DD/ sounds
good in initial position and /D/ sounds good
in final position, as in ‘daughter and
‘collide’ is confusing, since ‘daughter' has
no final /D/. It should have read ‘respec-
tively’.
The allophone table suggests that /DH/
is the ‘mu' sound in *muM' and /DHH/ the
‘mer* sound in ‘merM*. but they're the
short and long versions of a voiced ‘th*.
This turned out not to be a printing error.
The maker differs with me on what /DH/
actually sounds like.
There are two programs, one demon-
strating each allophone in turn while
printing demonstration words on the
screen, the other a speaking clock, which
uses the VIC’s internal jiffy-counter to say
things such as: —
TT/II/M/P5/I/I/S/S/NN/II//N/P4/TH/ER
TT/EE/N/P/ER/EE/S/II/S/L/EE/'
When I keyed in the demo program. I
kept getting a syntax error on a perfectly
normal data line. I couldn't find the cause,
but I think I spotted an error in line 565 of
the clock program (‘PA5* where, presum-
ably, they mean *P5').
The manual also says that the allophone
/S/ can be doubled to /SS/, but it produced
an error when I did this, and I had to use
/S/S/.
Verdict
It’s a pity the manufacturer doesn’t
supply a suite of demo programs on
cassette, since it is irritating to have to key
in a long and at first meaningless (and
therefore error-prone) program before
you can explore the module's full poten-
tial.
I can imagine wanting to use this neat
little add-on (I had it talking within a
six-line program in a few minutes) in
inter-active programs, and I'm quite
jealous that I can't plug it into my business
PET. But it should be possible to dissect
how it works and write a routine machine
code. This would be hard on its inventors,
but is, I suspect, inevitable.
MACHINE: Chatterbox Speech Module for the
Vic 20 PRICE: £57.45 inc postage and VAT
AVAILABLE: from branches of Spectrum shops.
MANUFACTURER: ( urragh Computer
Components, 0429-729%
■ps
PCN surgery reveals the electronic vocal chords of
Curragh's Chatterbox.
aw
Chatterbox — targeted at the nappy-user or the computer user? Let it speak for itself.
54
PCN MAR25.19K3
NEW Micro Marketing
ORIC SOFTWARE
TWO TERRIFYING ADVENTURE GAMES FOR THE 16/48K ORIC
zodiac
★ You're on a frozen glacier. The Ice giant attacks you. You survive. A
giant dragon confronts your path. The knife will kill it. Can you find
it
★ What's inside the Houses of the Zodiac — Aries and Virgo are but
two.
★ Can you find the magic potion, will you ever reach the House of
Immortality — the only safe place, or is it
JUST £6.95
DEATH SATELLITE
★ On a strange planet. The time machine has landed. Without fuel.
The atmosphere is electric. Will the Robot see you Can you
discover the radiation suit, find it or die.
★ The T ransporter Cabinet — can you aet any information from it,
failure and you will be marooned with all the deadly perils of an
alien planet.
★ Succeed or death may be your penalty.
JUST £6.95
WARNING: THESE PROGRAMS ARE NOT FOR THE WEAK OF HEART
* Buy one and experience the thrills and spills, suspense and subtlety of these original games.
Buy two for just £12.00 post & packaging 50p extra.
Expand your horizons Spectrum owners
Now available a 32K internal memory expansion kit for your 16K Spectrum. Four 8K chips simply plug into the
circuit board. Full instructions supplied with every kit.
Just £34.95 inc p&p
• Buy before April 30th and we will send a free 48K program with every kit. Usually £6.00
Strictly limited stocks available, all orders Oiled on a first come first served basis.
DEALERS: Micro Marketing distribute , TITAN; A&F; and LOTHLORIAN SOFTWARE as well as the JUPITER ACE and 16K Rom
packs for the ZX8 1, JUPITER and Vic-20. PHONE TOD A Y FOR PROMPT SERVICE.
SEND CHEQUES AND POSTAL ORDERS TO.
MICRO MARKETING, 92-104 CARNWATH ROAD, FILHAM, LONDON SW6. TEL: 736 1683
PCN MAR25, 1983
55
ICLUBNETI
Clubnet keeps you in touch with the microcosm of personal
computer enthusiasts throughout the UK. It is divided into two
sections — Clubs and User Groups.
Each week we list clubs alphabetically by county and user
groups alphabetically by speciality, covering about two letters
of the alphabet each week.
Entries include up-to-date information as far as possible , and
CLUBS
BERKSHIRE
Small Processor l ser Group. Runs
a data library. Has a lot of
information on 8060 processor,
peripherals etc, also produces
newsletter.
Contact Roger Knight at
Department of Meteorology,
University of Reading, Earley
Gate, Whitenights. Reading, tel:
0734 875123.
BIRMINGHAM
Birmingham Amateur Computer
Club. Meets at CBS Consultants,
Watery Lane, Small Heath,
Birmingham 10, on the first and
third Wednesday of each month at
7pm (annual subs: £4.20 adults.
£1.50 juniors).
Has a large software library.
Contact Dr M Bayliss, 125
Berryfield Road. Sheldon.
Birmingham B26 3UU, tel:
021-743 7197.
BUCKINGHAMSHIRE
Aylesbury Computer Club. Meets
at Ouarrendon Youth Club every
Friday at 7.30pm (annual subs:
£5).
Produces monthly newsletter.
Members also meet at Mandsville
County Secondary School the first
Thursday of each month at 7pm.
Contact Ken Knight. 22 Mount
Street. Aylesbury, tel: 02% 5181 .
Chittem Microcomputer Club.
Meets at the Garden Centre.
School Lane. Chalfont St Giles,
on the first Wednesday of each
month (annual subs: £4 for six
months).
Open to both professionals and
novices. Informal meetings
involving talks, machine
demonstrations and discussions.
Contact Mrs W Tibbitts at
Ellwood, Deanway, Chalfont St
Giles, Buckinghamshire, tel: 024
07 191 16
Iver Computer Club.
Contact P A Seal at 1 Ormonde
Flats, Church Road. Iver Heath,
tel: 0753 652792.
CAMBRIDGE
Cambridge Microcomputer Club,
on the third Wednesday of each
month.
Contact Derek Tripp at 3
Spurgeons Avenue, Waterbeach,
Tel: 0223-861804.
HaveriiNI Microcomputer Club
meets at St Marys Church Hall,
Camps Road, Haverhill, on the
secon. third and fourth
Wednesday of each month at 7.30
to 10.30pm. Annual subs: £3
adult; £1 OAP & students;
meetings 25p.
Contact Andrew Holliman, at 5
Trinity Close, Balsham.
Cambridge CB1 6DW, tel: 022
029-583.
group organisers should let us know of any changes, particularly
a move to a new address.
Just started your own club? Drop us a line and we’ll spread the
word. Write to: Clubnet, Personal Computer News, 62 Oxford
Street, London W1 A 2HG.
Details of the clubs are based on the Amateur Computer
Club’s listing.
as yet. Library planned —
K1 software, books and cassettes.
Newsletter available.
APPLE Contact Richard Hawes, tel:
Croydon Apple User Group. Meets 01-301 1111.
at Sidda House, 350 Lower Preston Atari Computer
Addiscombe Road, Croydon, on Enthusiasts. Meets at KSC Club,
the second Monday of each month Merrion House, Beach Grove,
(annual subs: £5 private members, Ashton. Preston, on the third
£ 10 commercial members, Thursday of each month at
meetings: 50p). 7.30pm(annual subs: £5).
Future programme includes: Contact Roger Taylop, tel: 0253
extending the Apple hardware, 738192.
graphics for design and an
introduction to machine coding. ATOM
Contact Paul Vernon, 60 Liverpool BBC and Atom User
Flawkhurst Way, West Wickham, Group. Meets at Old Swan
Kent, tel: 01-777 5478. Technical College, Room C33 on
British Apple Systems l ser Group. the first Wednesday of each month
Meets at Old School, Branch at 7.30 to 9.30pm and at
Road. Park Street, St Albans. Birkenhead Technical College,
Hertfordshire, on the first first floor. Science and Maths
Tuesday evening and third Sunday department on the third Thursday
afternoon each month (annual of each month at 7.30 to 9.30pm.
subs: £12.50, joining fee: £2.50). Contact Nick Kelly on 051-525
Caters for all Apple and ITT 2934 (evenings).
2020 users, publishes a magazine
called Hard Core.
Contact John Sharp,
tel: 09273 75093.
Apple Users Group.
Contact Steve Profitt, The
Granary, Hill Farm Road. Marlow
Bottom. Buckinghamshire, tel:
062 84 73074.
ATARI
Silica Atari 400/800 User Club
A new Club — no meeting place
Bournemouth BBC User's Group.
Meets at Lansdowne Computer
Centre, 5 Holdenhurst Road,
Bournemouth, on the first and
fourth Wednesday of each month
at 7.30-10.30pm (meetings: £1).
This club has 10 BBC micros.
Meetings made up of lectures,
demonstrations and discussions.
Contact Norman Carey, tel:
0202 74% 12.
PCN Datelines keeps you in touch with up-coming events. Make
sure you enter them in your diary.
Organisers who would like details of coming events included in
PCN Datelines should send the information at least one month
before the event. Write to PCN Datelines, Personal Computer
News, hi ( Ktord Street. London W1A 2H( i.
I UK EVENTS
I OVERSEAS EVENTS
Robot Exhibition
Compec Europe Exhibition
National Computer Conference &
Exhibition
Dates
Venue
Organisers
March 28-31
Royal Dublin Society. Dublin
Mr Scan Lemass. SDL Exhibitions.
Dublin 763871
April 14-20
Seoul. Korea
Korea Economic Daily. 441 Chungrimdong,
Chung-ku, Seoul 100
Mav 3-5
Centre Rogier. Brussels
Tracey Cannon, IPC Exhibitions, 01-643 8040
May 16-19
Anaheim. USA
American Federation of Information Processing
Societies. 1815 N Lvnn Street, Arlington. VA
22209
56
PCN MAR25, 1983
COST EFFECTIVE COMPUTER HEALTH CARE
Symptom
Unexplained software errors and apparently
intermittant hardware malfunctions
Diagnosis
The computer system is being subjected to
unsuppressed mams borne electrical noise and
transients - Dirty Power
Treatment
Cassette-Based Business Software by Andrew Crane
for EPSON HX-20 PORTABLE
NEW from MST CONSULTANTS
STOCK CONTROL PACKAGE
£20.00 fully inclusive
You will wonder how you ever managed without this simple-to-operate,
self-contained, functional, stock-control system Features include
• Hard copy on integral printer • Ready access to all stock records •
Date and time recordings of printer listings • Ability to store thousands of
stock items on microcassette files • Menu-based options displayed on
integral LCD screen
Software Menu Options include: Add Amend stock, stock search delete
stock, reorder report, stock evaluation, stock list amend stock levels, file
exchange Also EPSON HX-20 DATABASE. SUPER CAPACITY card
index system Choose your own headings Facilities include sorts,
searches field totals etc £20.00 inclusive.
DRAGON 32 PACKAGES Available NOW
MST DATABASE -Card Index filino system £14.00 inclusive
MST INVOICES and STATEMENTS Prints excellent and detailed
documents, etc £14.00 inclusive
MST STOCK CONTROL Stock lists stock evaluation Reorder reports
etc £14.00 inclusive
MST BUSINESS ACCOUNTS Debtor/Creditor details and summaries
etc. on printout £14.00 inclusive
MSTMAiLER Dedicated databasefor formatted address labels etc
£14.00 inclusive
Each program comes with descriptive leaflet, operator notes, etc Each
customer will receive details of our hot-line link
Cheques and Postal Orders should be made payable to MST Consultants
Fully-inclusive prices include VAT and postage costs Send your remittance
to
J Phone or *«nd
your card number
Trade Enquiries Welcome
MST CONSULTANTS
Newton Rd.. Bovey Tracey. Newton Abbot. South Devon TQ13 9BB
TEL: 0626 832617
COMPUTER BOOKS
McGRAW HILL
WORD PROCESSING BUYER'S GUIDE
A. Naiman
Filling the need for a word processing buyer's guide that is neither too complex for the
novice nor too superficial for the experienced computer user, this thorough guide shows how
word processors enable all kinds of writers to edit, rearrange, reformat and print their docu-
ments electronically with dazzling speed and efficiency.
07 045869 3 £12.50 □
VIC 20 USER GUIDE (O*orne)
J. Heilborn
This book provides thoughtfully organized, practical information for all users and potential
buyers of Commodore's VIC 20. For inexperienced programmers, there are tutorials in VIC 20
BASIC, complete with instructions for colour graphics and sound. For the more experienced
programmer, this book serves as a reference manual and includes detailed coverage of VIC 20
BASIC statements and functions, including a chapter on advanced colour graphics.
APPLE LOGO
H. A be lion
Explaining the use of Logo on the Apple II computer, this book contains additional references
to programming the Texas Instruments 99/4A home computer. It begins with a basic outline
of Logo, then covers elementary programming procedures, and readers then learn how to use
Logo with some hands-on practice at turtle geometry', an introductory programming example.
More complex commands, techniques and projects are then introduced.
07 000425 0 £11.50 □
How to order these books - simple!
Just tick the titles you require, fill in your name and address, and send this advert for a copy
of it) with your cheque or postal order to:-
McGrew Hill Book Co. (UK) Ltd., KP
FREEPOST. Maidenhead. Berks. SL6 2BU. liHlI
WARNING Unf iltered power can
damage your computer's health
Filter the mains power supply by replacing the
existing 13 amp plugs with Power Internationals
THE PLUG’, a mains borne noise and transient
suppression device incorporated within a
modified 13 amp plug case (Available from
^ Dealers or direct from the manufacturer) *rrp £i 5 so including p p
W Should this treatment provide only limited relief.
p you should seek specialist advice from:-
Power International Limited 2A Isambard Brunei Road.
Portsmouth, Hampshire POI 2DU. Tel: (0705) 756715
PCN MAR25, 1983
57
Hewson Consultants
We proudly announce our 1983 range of
SPECTRUM SOFTWARE
40 BEST MACHINE CODE ROUTINES
FOR THE ZX SPECTRUM £5.95
By Andrew Hewson and John Hardman
Section A: Three chapters explaining what you
need to know about Z80 machine code on the
Spectrum.
• How to load and save machine code.
• How to use the system variables.
• How program lines are stored.
• How to use the stack, the display, the
attribute files.
Section B: 40 routines including,
• Scroll - up, down, side to side by pixel or by
character.
Search and replace, token swap, string
search.
Rotate character, invert character -
horizontally and vertically.
Line renumber - including GOSUBs,
GOTOs. RUN etc.
20 BEST PROGRAMS FOR
THE ZX SPECTRUM £5.95
By A ndrew Hewson
Program titles include :
Machine Code Editor - Write, modify, extend
and load machine code using this all-basic
program. No need to use an Assembler when
you have this program.
Index File- Learn about fixed length records,
save numeric and string information, add to.
sort, modify, delete and print your records.
Ideal as a computer based filing system.
Duckshoot - Learn how to manipulate the
attributes file and have fun at the same time.
Graphix - Construct up to 210 graphics
characters with the full on-screen editing
facilities, enhance and modify them and recall
them later to build a detailed display to save on
cassette.
Plus: FOOTBALL. DIGITISER. DIARY and many
more.
PLUS : Two complete world map
screen displays for you to include in
your own programs.
BACKGAMMON iex
£5.95
8 Levels of play from novice to expert.
Full colour display of tables and dice.
Gamble on a single game or a series,
double or quits. All the features of
the ancient game.
COUNTRIES
OFTHE WORLD
£5.95
16 and 48K on one cassette
Countries of the World is an
educational package designed to give
an appreciation of the location of all the
main countries and some information
about them.
16K version displays a world map.
shows the position of each country and
names its capital.
48K version; all the above plus prints
the population, size, currency, and
main languages of each country, and
statistics on largest and smallest
countries etc.
PILOT 16K
(ZX8l)
£5.95
NIGHTFLITE
16 and 48K £5.95
NIGHTFLITE puts you at the controls of
a light aircraft flying at night. You can :
Climb, descend, take off.
Land, bank left or right.
Navigate between beacons.
Raise/lower the flaps,
Raise/lower the undercarriage,
Adjust engine rpm.
Raise/lower the nose varying amounts.
Runway lights appear on approach.
5 modes including Autopilot.
Written by a qualified light aircraft pilot.
SPECVADERS £4.95
16K
Defeat each squadron of Beeple Zaps
and another appears only closer.
Cyrian mothership with ejecting Zeetle
Baps.
5 levels of play from Orions snails pace
to close your eyes and hope.
Real time scoring. 3 lives. Pan galactic
gargle blaster for highest score.
Descending asteriods.
MAZE CHASE £ 4.95
16and48K
4 or 8 Mazes, Highest score to date,
4 independent guardians. 3 lives.
Full colour. Fast machine code action,
magic strawberries, eat lemons
to score more, real time scoring.
m —
5COpf
A «
: :
2 8 5*5 5
AAA
m * w
* A *
* m » » #
i <
i
\
i
mm
1
Fly your own aircraft.
Instruments and readouts
A/H, ALT. HDG, FL. GR. VOR.
VSI. WIND, DME, ADF.and ILS
see NIGHTFLITE". Essentially
the same as "NIGHTFLITE" but
without the Hi Res Graphics.
| ORDER FORM
I
I
PCN
Quantity
Product
Cost
□ DUDD
PUCKMAN 16K
(ZX81)
£5.95
3 Mazes.
Highest score to date.
4 Independent guardians.
Magic strawberries.
Real time scoring.
X
I Name
| iBIock Capitals Please)
I
.Total _
Address.
Signed .
I My Access/Barclaycard No. is
Post to HEWSON CONSULTANTS. 60A St Mary's Street. Wallingford, Oxon 0X10 0EL.
I Tel (0491 ) 36307.
58
PCN MAR 25. 1983
GAMEPLAY
ILJ
ADVENTURE
Ultra-violent days
APPLE
NAME Ultima II APPLICATION
Graphic adventure game SYSTEM
Apple PRICE 142. K* PUBLISHER
Sierra On-Line FORMAT Disk
LANGUAGE Machine code OTHER
VERSIONS Atari disk soon. £42.88
OUTLETS Mail order through SBD
Software. 01-870 9275, also
various Apple dealers
Ultima II covers every planet in
the solar system, including the
sun itself. It ranges from the
days of legend to far in the
future in five time zones, and
has a cast of thousands —
including Warren Beatty and
Diane Keaton . . .
This has to be the biggest
gaipe you have ever seen, by a
long chalk. But although it's
almost a great game, it falls
short . Because of its ambition it
is a notch over the top.
Objectives
You are an adventurer — just
what sort of an adventurer is up
to you. You can be a brawny
muscle-man wielding a battle-
axe, or a wise but frail wizard
living on your wits. You start
with a total of 99 points which
you share out among a list of
attributes for your character.
You also have to pick a race and
profession.
First impressions
The box is emblazoned with
suitably romantic artwork, and
the first thing you find inside
looks suspiciously like a tea-
towel. It is a piece of cloth
printed with a crude map of the
world and emblazoned with
strange symbols. They are in
fact Tolkien’s runic alphabet,
the Cirth, described in Lord of
the Rings.
The instruction manual is
written in the dazzlingly twee
style the Americans do so well.
Your computer, you discover,
is ‘Ultima’s supreme being and
controller!’ You are told to
make a copy of the player-disk
here; you can make as many as
you like , giving each character a
different set of abilities.
In play
The first thing you see is an
animated picture of a dragon,
spitting fire. You can either
create a player, play a game, or
demonstrate the game. If you
choose to create your charac-
ter, distribute your 99 points
carefully, and watch out when
you decide on your race and
profession. These two have a
noticeable effect on certain of
the attributes.
I found this section of the
program a little inadequate.
Your first try at creating a
character for an adventure sel-
dom comes out right. You
should therefore be able to
modify at will, but Ultima II
simply allows you to make an
entry, and then moves on.
You must allocate at least ten
points to each attribute, but if
you give 25 each to the first
three, thus making it impossible
to satisfy the rules, the program
won’t let you back up. The only
way out is to put in some
impossible figure like 88, which
wipes the whole display.
Pressing ‘P’ for play sets the
disk in motion, and the screen
clears to reveal a small white
figure in the middle of a map.
This map is one of the best
parts of Ultima II. It’s com-
posed of large squares, with
different colours and textures,
each of which is a different
terrain, and where there’s wa-
ter it ripples. Unfortunately, as
it was written in the US, where
the Apple colour set is re-
versed, the water is purple, the
trees are brown, and the moun-
tains are green.
As you move your character,
he or she stays in the centre and
the screen scrolls appropriate-
ly. The redrawing is very fast,
and gives a real feeling of
motion if the REPEAT key is
held down.
The first thing to look for is
some safe place, because you
have neither armour nor
weapons, and you need to talk
to somebody to find out what’s
going on.
There are all kinds of horrors
wandering about, and they all
make a beeline for you. They
have none but the worst possi-
ble intentions, so the only
choice is to try killing them with
your bare hands. They run as
fast as you do, but you don’t
know where you’re going. They
do — after you.
If you manage to survive the
journey and reach a town or
castle, you may enter by press-
ing ‘E’ when standing on the
square. Towns are where your
character can buy equipment,
food and transport. Castles
have other commodities.
My first character, Ishtar,
died of starvation while trying
to kill her fourth Ore with her
bare hands.
She’d spent almost all her
money on chain-mail and a
sword, only to be told when she
tried them on that she had
neither the strength to wear the
armour, nor the skill to wield
the sword.
I’d created my character as an
Elvish Cleric, hoping to capital-
ise on a bit of agility and
wisdom. The instructions sug-
gested that a high charisma
rating would be useful for
extracting information and bar-
gaining, so I chose a female.
This didn’t seem to make much
difference.
With Ishtar’s failure in my
mind, I created a new character
called Gruma. He was a thor-
oughly nasty piece of work,
largely brute strength and bad
breath.
I bought weapons and
armour, buckled them on and
went off to slaughter the na-
tives. Gruma had no trouble in
disposing of almost anything he
met, and with him I discovered
the function of time-doors.
These are purple squares
which appear and disappear. If
you move into one you find
yourself in a different place,
frequently in a different time.
At first this is confusing, and
you stumble blindly in and out
of them. The cloth map is
supposed to guide you, but it’s
some time before you begin to
understand it.
I found myself wandering
about, trying to keep out of
trouble, visiting anywhere and
talking to everybody. Most of
the inhabitants say something
pretty dull, but a few give away
real gems.
But even the strongest war-
rior takes a few hits, and food
gets low, so it’s soon time to
repair to the place where you
can get more of each. No, I
won’t tell you where.
After some few hours of play
Gruma had amassed several
hundred experience points, had
sailed the seven seas, visited
foreign lands and battled with
sea-monsters, but despite all
that didn't seem to be getting
anywhere.
Gruma, was tough, but not
exactly smart. He died of
starvation in 1990, just outside
New San Antonio. There was
no food to be had for nearly a
thousand years in either direc-
tion.
Verdict
The main failing of Ultima II is
the poor characterisation. This
is probably because the authors
spent so much of the memory on
the map of the world that they
had nothing left to keep half-
way-decent data-tables on the
actors.
The result is that, apart from
in the towns, the only way to get
along with anybody is to kill
them.
The sheer scale of the game is
impressive, and apart from
the mind-numbing violence,
there’s plenty to do and discov-
er. At £42.88 it is expensive but
good value, since it will provide
a challenge for some time .
Richard King
RATING
Lasting appeal -«««#%«
Playability
Use of machine —
Overall value —
PCN MAR25.1983
59
GAMEPLAY
ADVENTURE
Starship grocer
SINCLAIR ZX81
NAME Trader APPLICATION
Graphic adventure game SYSTEM
Sinclair ZX81. 16K PRICE £9.95
PUBLISHER Pixel Productions,
through Quicksilva 0703 20169
FORMAT C assette LANGUAGE Basic
OTHER VERSIONS Vic 20. £14.95
OUTLETS Mail order, various
major computer stores
Trentor, space trader and mer-
chant extraordinaire, is two
days out from Epsilon Dock
with a full cargo of gold nuggets,
raw fuel and priceless booster
spice. Armed only with an atom
blaster, credit card, notepad
and pen, Trentor makes his
living by flitting between the six
moons of his home world Meri-
dien, swapping fuel for food for
narcotics for statues for . . .
You can try your own luck as
a space trader in this three-part
space adventure from Pixel,
marketed by Quicksilva.
Objectives
You are in charge of a cargo
spaceship. You have a little
money, or credits, and your
task is to exchange the credits
for goods on one moon and visit
the others, trading as you go.
The part of the trader is
played by one person, but two
could co-operate on decision-
making. You have little control
over the action, and must cope
with the sort of activities you’ve
come to expect from a compu-
ter, including quizzes, graphic
action and strategy.
Your objectives are to return
to the main port of Epsilon , and
to come back with more credits
than you started with.
First Impressions
The cassette comes in a large
box, together with an eight page
booklet giving instructions, and
a story about Trentor’s adven-
tures with the statue-collecting
Alphans and pet-loving Psions.
You get a short loading test
which tells you what to do next,
and the instructions are
straightforward. LOADing the
first part of the game took a
good six minutes on my ZX81 .
In play
At the start of the game you are
at Epsilon Dock and have 1 ,000
credits. You must buy a tankful
of fuel for your hopper —
enough to get you to your next
landfall.
Now is also the time to spend
your credits on a stock of as
many commodities as you can
afford. Choose from such trea-
sures as Petrochem, munch (a
food that comes in sweet red
or savoury green varieties),
synthomunch, another food-
stuff (disgusting to eat, but
highly nutritious and cheap),
boosterspice (a narcotic with
unpredictable side-effects),
gold and raw fuel.
But don’t go for just one
commodity — not even the
entrancing boosterspice — or
you could lose the game fast.
Now you must travel, and
trade. You go to Psi first, but be
warned, the inhabitants will
look down on you, and will try
to humiliate you — they scorn
your materialistic lifestyle.
‘Use your calculator if neces-
sary,’ the game instructions
advise. ‘They can’t think any
less of you.*
A calculator, pen and paper
really are needed to keep track
of your changing cargo and the
number of credits you have, or
you owe. Without these aids
you’ll be thrown into a panic the
first few times you play. There
are different things to do on all
five moons, and just getting to
them is a major exercise in
itself.
You must battle against grav-
ity on your approach to Beta,
work out your angle of
approach to Alpha, and steer
clear of Gamma’s sky-high
radiation levels.
You are kept in touch with
developments by several sen-
tences of background material
at each event. But even if you go
through the game several times,
you still have to sit through all
that background, as there is no
way of turning it off.
Twice you are left in suspense
while you LOAD parts two
and three, but these breaks in
play are useful, as playing time
for the whole game runs to
around 15 minutes — unless
you are killed.
Verdict
As a trading simulation, this
game is quite good, but does
have limitations. You have no
■■■■■■■■■■■
choice about the moons you
visit, or the order in which you
visit them. The prices at which
you buy and sell and the
unexpected events you encoun-
ter are all random.
As a result, after you’ve
played two or three times, you
will have a good idea of what to
expect , though there will still be
some surprises even after ten
games or more.
What with letting your
friends play, not to mention
your parents or children , I think
the game should retain some
interest for several months. But
for just one player, I expect it
would last maybe a dozen plays.
Mel Pullen
RATING
Lasting appeal — WWft
Playability— «*%*%*%
Use of machine —
Value — W
ADVENTURE/QUIZ
Interstellar tourist
VIC. SPECTRUM. ZX81
NAME Starquest/Encounter
APPLICATION Adventure/quiz
games SYSTEM Sinclair ZX81, 16K
PRICE £3.95 PUBLISHER Pixel
Productions, through Quicksilver
0703 20169 FORMAT Cassette
LANGUAGE Basic OTHER VERSIONS
Vic 20. £7.95 OUTLETS Mail order,
various major computer stores.
Both these games, on a single
cassette, deal with man’s first
steps away from this planet.
The first, Starquest, sends
you on a space adventure. You
and your interstellar explora-
tion ship Starquest must search
for new worlds to colonise.
The second, described as an
IQ Game, casts you as an
Earthling kidnapped by aliens
wishing to probe your intelli-
gence and cultural develop-
ment.
These games are written by
Pixel and marketed by Quick-
silva, and come in versions for
the Vic, Spectrum, and ZX81 . 1
tried the ZX81 version.
Objectives
In Starquest, you wander
around the universe investiga-
ting stars. You are on the
lookout for Earth-like planets
ripe for colonisation, though
your goal is also to chart and
claim any planets suitable for
mining.
There are hazards to be faced
including meteor showers,
unidentified missiles, super-
novas, and black holes — and
the latter two can wipe you out.
The game ends if you lose your
ship or manage to find a
habitable planet orbiting a star.
There is no winning or losing;
at the end, you are simply given
a score screen that lists stars
visited, planets claimed for
Earth, and shuttle ships lost.
First impressions
Apart from a brief scene-setting
blurb on the back of the cassette
label, no instructions are given.
But as the game is a simple cycle
of finding a star, looking at
planets, and claiming them if
they are of any value, none are
needed. You get a brief LOAD-
ING test before the program
itself, so you can set your tape
volume correctly.
60
PCN MAR 25. 1983
GAMEPLAY
CARTOONS
Horace stories
ZX SPECTRUM
In Play
You have very little to do in this
game, and I found that dis-
appointing. You get to press the
odd key when you’re told to at
various points, but you can’t,
modify the action at all.
At the start you see a black
screen with a handful of stars,
and hit a key to select a star to
visit. You are told that your
spacecraft is going into hyper-
drive, then your arrival is
announced seconds later.
‘This is Procyon', you may be
told, along with details of the
star jump you just made and the
star’s vital statistics. You scan
the star system for habitable or
mineral-rich planets, and you
may orbit any of interest.
But most of the time all
you do is sit there and admire
the screen. And as the program
is written in Basic, everything is
rather slow.
The second game on the tape ,
Encounter, really carries on
where you finished with Star-
quest. It is, says Pixel, ‘A
simulation of primary contact
with extra-terrestrial life.*
That sounds promising, but
Pixel warns you that the experi-
ence may be rather one-sided.
‘It is a much greater intellect
that brings these travellers to
our insignificant orb’, trumpet
the game instructions. ‘Is man
yet ready for membership of the
galactic union?’
If you can answer the ques-
tions the alien sets you. . .well,
why not try it and see?
Verdict
Starquest’s format is so repeti-
tive that I don’t think anyone
will play it for long. I found it
downright boring after the first
half hour, since you are only
required to do anything once
every few minutes.
Encounter did have a couple
of surprises in store, but all in
all , despite a fairly low price tag,
I think there are much more
interesting games available.
Mel Pullen
RATING
Lasting appeal —
Playability—
Use of machine —
Value—
NEXT WEEK
Gameplay sits down at the
card table with the Sinclair
Spectrum, and looks at a
batch of games for the Dra-
gon. These include some old
computer favourites and a
version of 3D noughts and
crosses.
NAME Hungry Horace, Horace
Goes Skiinc APPLICATION
animated games SYSTEM ZX
Spectrum. 16K PRICE £5.95 each
PUBLISHER Psion. 01-723 9408
FORMAT Cassette LANGUAGE
Assembler OUTLETS WHSmith.
all Sinclair dealers
Just when you thought micro-
computer games had nothing
more to offer, Psion and Mel-
bourne have come up with the
electronic equivalent of the Mr
Men books.
The idea is that one cartoon
character — in this case Hungry
Horace — is central to a whole
series of games.
Hungry Horace has been
around since September, and
now the first successor, Horace
Goes Skiing, has been laun-
ched.
The Horace games seem
suitable for seven-year-olds
and upwards, and run on the
16K or 48K Spectrum.
Objectives
The objectives in both games is
to amass points while attemp-
ting to prolong Horace's life.
Hungry Horace gives you
four lives, and you run round a
succession of maze-like parks
eating flowers while park-
keepers try to catch you.
Horace Goes Skiing gives you
$40 to spend on skis and
ambulance fees. The idea is to
cross a busy road to the ski hire
shop.
If you run out of money, you
can earn more by pushing your
points over pre-set thresholds,
or by deliberately crossing and
recrossing the roads without
mishap.
First impressions
Both Horaces come in attrac-
tive packaging. The instruc-
tions are clear, although the
spelling leaves a little to be
desired.
Both games are easy to learn ,
but hard to master as they
become progressively faster
and/or more difficult.
In play
The controls used are T and
‘A’ for vertical movement and
‘I’ and ‘P’ for horizontal. Since
you must use a keyboard, these
are sensible letters to use.
The idea is to negotiate
Horace round a park eating the
flowers and being pursued by
up to four park-keepers, who
are portrayed as ferocious-
looking disembodied heads. If a
park-keeper drops his lunch of
cherries or strawberries,
Horace earns extra points by
eating it.
Somewhere on each screen a
bell is tolling. If Horace gets to
the bell, the parkies turn white
with fear and their hair stands
on end.
‘Skiing’ uses similar controls,
although vertical movement is
controlled by the ‘O’ and ‘Z’
keys.
First, Horace has to cross a
very busy road in order to get to
the ski shop where he buys skis
for $10. Then he has to cross
back to get on to the ski slope.
If hit by a vehicle, Horace has
to stump up a $10 ambulance
fee and then attempt to cross
the road again.
Once on the ski slope,
Horace has to negotiate the
usual flags, hillocks and trees. If
he hits a tree, he can break his
skis. But sometimes he gets
away with it. A hillock can send
him in any direction and passing
between flags increases the
points.
Verdict
Neither game is completely
original, but both are a lot of
fun. Horace, like ET, is a
lovable little chap and I think
£5.95 is a reasonable price to
pay for each of his adventures.
David Tebbutt
RATING:
Hungry Horace
Lasting Appeal —
Playability —
Use of machine —
Overall value —
Horace Goes Skiing
Lasting appeal —
Playability — ftWWWW
Use of machine — PQ
Overall value —
PCN MAR25, 1983
61
' solves yo Ur moo queries & problem^
Computer Answers,
the unique magazine
that solves your micro
queries and problems.
I WHAT’S THE USE OF BUSINESS GRAPHICS?
IS PASCAL BETTER THAN BASIC?
WHAT CAN AN EXPERT SYSTEM DO?
Free Question and
Answers service
Free Advertiser Re ply
service
Join the Readers
Council
Benefit from the
Council of Elders
Included in our regular sections this month:
★ UPGRADE: A preview of Apple’s new LISA
and its novel cursor.
★ CONNECTIONS: Ways of making your
printer form characters that are not in your
micro's character set.
★ PROGRAMMING: The third part of our
continuing Assembler course for the 6502
processor.
★ OPERATING SYSTEMS: Howto manage
a corrupted CPM disk.
★ APPLICATIONS: How graphics can make
business information easier to understand.
★ BUYING AND BACKUP: Reduce your
risks, rent software before you buy it. We look
at the possibilities.
THE SINCLAIR ZX SPECIAL Seven pages
of answers in response to the hundreds of
questions on the world's most popular family of
Micros.
Plus sacks of readers’ questions, ANSWERED
COMP10H OUT NOW-75p
From W H Smith, John Menzies and all leading newsagents.
PCN Progr amCards
Tired of interminable and unintelligible
program listings that threaten you with
first-degree myopia? Here’s a sight for
sore eyes. Our unique ProgramCards
allow you to build up an at-a-glance
reference source in the form of neat filing
cards. Snip them out, glue them to a
backing board and box them ready for
use.
Each program — on one, two or more
cards — is presented with notes at the
appropriate point alongside, so that you
can understand and anticipate the action
on-screen.
As well as complete programs, a sub-
routine with an example of its use will be
printed each week from the PCN library.
This week
Our first program is a useful utility for the
Sinclair Spectrum from Andrew Pennell,
an 18-year-old member of the East Lon-
don Computer Club, showing a good use of
the machine — the Sinclair Spectrum — to
offer a search/edit facility.
This presents a wealth of opportunities
for the imaginative among you to im-
prove text/program editing on your
machine.
From darkest Cricklewood comes a
very neat analogue alarm and teaching
clock for the BBC Model B, submitted by
Alan Monaghan.
This uses an interesting technique for
hand movement of the clock and was
actually found to be quite accurate.
Fernando Marques, an expatriate Por-
tuguese living in Rugby, sent in his
statistical graph generator for the Spec-
trum which allows data entry and editing.
A clever feature of the program is the
ability of the user to specify the positions
of the appropriate axes so that legibility is
maximised.
In the subroutine section we are featur-
ing two linked routines to extract and
replace strings within strings — very
handy in text editing.
The sample program showing their use
is a simple sentence-editing function.
PCN ProgramCards
J String Edit Utility Card 1 of 1
See your name in print!
Become a legend in your own lunchtime.
Send your example of programming ex-
pertise on disk or cassette with a plain
paper printout to the address below.
We’d also like a brief description of what
the program does, and notes including
memory requirements, special hardware
needed etc.
All programs are checked by a referee
before publication so that only fully
debugged programs are published.
As if the promise of fame was not
enough , we’ll even pay you for them , at our
standard rates.
Should you require your material to be
returned please enclose an SAE.
If you are interested in becoming a referee
for submitted programs then send details
of experience, machines covered etc to:-
Programs Editor, Personal Computer
News, VNU, Evelyn House, 62 Oxford
Street, London W1 A 2HG.
8302 SEU
A useful utility to allow the user to search for a user-defined string within a program so that it can
be edited. Load the program to be edited then merge (if on tape) or type in. Use run 9900 then
enter string (keywords by shift “G" — “THEN" — enter keyword and delete “THEN") . When string
found edit as normal or CONTinue to resume.
Sinclair Spectrum
Spectrum Basic
Min. requirements: 16K
Application: General interest
9900 LET M-PEEK 23637 ♦ 236*PEEK 23836
9901 INPUT "Enter the string you wish to search fori"| LINE AS
9903 LET I - PEEK 23633 ♦ 236*PEEK 23636
9910 LET L - 236*PEEK I ♦ PEEK (I ♦ 1 > t PRINT LI I LET I - I ♦ 2
PEEK I ♦ 256 •PEEK (I ♦ 1 > i LET I - I ♦ 1
1 TO Jl LET A - PEEK (I ♦ J>
9930 FOR J -
9940 IF A - 14 THEN LET J - J ♦ 3» GO TO 9970
9930 PRINT CHRS A|
9933 POKE 23692,235
«»960 IF A <> CODE AS ( 1 > THEN GO TO 9970
9961 FOR K - 1 TO LEN AS. IF PEEK (I ♦ J ♦ K - 1> <> CODE AS<K> THEN GO TO 9970
9962 IF K > 1 THEN PRINT CHRS PEEK (I ♦J ♦ K - 1)1
9963 NEXT K» LET J - J ♦ LEN AS - It POKE 23623, L- 236* I NT (L/236) i POKE 23626,1
NT < L/236) i BEEP .03,10* STOP
9900 LET I - I ♦ J
9990 IF I < M - 43 THEN GO TO 9910
9993 PRINT "Search finished."
Refer to chapters 24 and 25 of Spectrum
Basic Manual for peek and poke use.
9900 Store memory address of 990 Tin M.
9901 Input string — store in A$.
9905 Store 1 st line address in /.
9910 Current line No. in L.
9920 /is line byte counter.
9930 Scan each byte in current line until
string equates.
9963 Found it! Allows correct edit action.
9980 Set next line address
9990 If line less 9900 try again.
9995 All scanned.
PCN MAR25. 1983
63
Adding high resolution
colour graphics
to your Nascom or Gemini
system need not cost
more than £199.
Introducing the new Mlcrorector MV256 adding a high Resolution Colour Graphics capability to
your NASCOM or GEMINI computer system
* High resolution display 256 x 2S6 x 4 planes ( 16 * High Quality PAL UHF output with intercamer
colours) sound facility
* 32k of display memory with flicker free update * Composite B/W video 75 ohm output ( 16 grey
(Outside of the host computers memory address levels)
sp* 0 ®) * Red. Blue & Green video 75 ohm outputs (sync
* Non interlaced 50Hz OCIR 625 line display mixed on each) available on MV256B only
^ ormat * Audio & light pen inputs
The MV2S6 uses the Thomson EF9365 graphics display processor to provide high level graphics
functions m hardware * .
* Ultra fast vector and character generation give * Rectangle fill clear screen and scan screen
full animation capability (typ 800 000 pixeis/sec operations
max 1 300 000 pixels/sec) * Host computer access to display memory via
max 1300 000 pixels/sec)
* Selectable line types (continuous dotted,
dashed dotted dashed)
* 96 ASCII character set Programmable
character sues and orientations
registers
* Comprehensive display status information
* Light pen oontrol
* NMI interrupt generation (on board link option)
MV256A
£199
+ VAT MV256B
£220
Both the MV2S6A and MV256B are supplied bulk and tested with comprehensive documentation
and programming examples. Postage & Pecking free
Colour Video monitor 1 4 inch 0.6 mm pitch tube Arfon Light pen. Plug in. compatible with Micro
9MHz bandwidth, suitable for use with MV 2568 Vector board
Also has PAL decoder enabling direct
connection to domestic video recorder
£295 & CARR
£50
Cable Accessories available
ther information please contact
CLIMAX COMPUTERS LTD
17a Broad Street, South Molton, Devon. Tel: (07695) 2314
ZX SPECTRUM & ZX81
EDUCATIONAL SOFTWARE
Spectrum Junior Education £5.50
Use your Spectrum to help your children with their school
work. This cassette contains eight attractive, easy-to-use
programs for the 7 to 1 1 age group.
Topics include English comprehension, spellings,
homophones, junior science, maths and history.
★ Entering your own questions and answers allows you to
adapt two of these programs for exercises in any subject
area.
★ Moving colour graphics and sound are extensively used to
improve motivation.
★ Use the “draw” program to produce pictures, maps and
diagrams.
Suitable for the 16K or 48K Spectrum. Program notes are
supplied.
O-Level Chemistry (Cl ) £5.50
This cassette contains four clearly presented revision/tutorial
programs. The subject matter has been carefully structured to
cover the most important aspects of:
★ Elements, compounds and mixtures.
★ Structure, bonding and properties.
★ Redox, electrolysis and the activity series.
★ Acids, bases and salts.
48K Spectrum and 16K ZX81 versions of the cassette are
available. Please specify which you require.
Professional Computer Assisted Learning materials from:
CALPAC COMPUTER SOFTWARE
108 Hermitage Woods Crescent St Johns,
Woking, Surrey GU21 1UF.
Overseas orders: £6.50 ($11.60) per cassette; includes
AIRMAIL postage.
What do you do if your
BBC Micro goes wrong?
If you value your BBC Micro and your money
you can now purchase extra one and two
year full guarantees direct from us or via
most Acorn dealers.
If your Micro is still under warranty, just fill in
the expiry date on the coupon* and the
guarantee will start from that date.
We carry a full stock of parts and should your
computer malfunction we will repair it within
five days of receipt. HHBI
A full one year guarantee costs just £1 8.40
And a full two year guarantee costs just £27.60
If your Micro is already faulty, and out of
guarantee, we will repair it on receipt and
issue a full years guarantee for £29.90 or a
full two years guarantee for £39.10. Please
state fault when sending micro.
For you and your BBC Micro's peace
of mind send the coupon today
O’ Please tick service required. Warranty Expiry*
□ I enclose £18.40 for a full 1 years guarantee Date / /83
□ I enclose £27.60 for a full 2 years guarantee If applicable
□ I enclose £29.90 for an immediate repair and a full 1 years guarantee
□ I enclose £39.10 for an immediate repair and a full 2 years guarantee
Surname Access Card No
Initials
Address
or telephone your access card number
to Madingley 210212
Make/Model A/B
Serial No
Send remittance to:
Cambridge Processor Services,
25 Parsonage Street, Dept. PCN
Cambridge CB5 8DN.
This offer applies to mainland UK only. This guarantee does not apply to major damage caused by abuse.
64
PCN MAR 25. 1983
PCNProgramCards
I Analogue Clock Card 1 of 3
•S MOP AC 1 /3
A clever program demonstrating the graphics capabilities of the computer. Has facilities for a
real-time alarm clock with sweep second-hand and also a teaching aspect.
BBC Model 3
BBC Basic
Minimum requirements: 32K.
Application: General interest.
10 MODE li VDU 24, 0| 0| 1023* 1023*
20 VDU 26.32,31,39,0
30 VDU 19,1, S| 0|
40 GCOL 0, 129i GC0L 0,3
SO COLOUR Oi COLOUR 130* CLS» CLQ <.
60 PROC CLOCK* GCOL 0,2
70 R1 - 236* R2 - 312* TH - PI* F - 60* HRS - 6
80 PROC HANDS <R1,R2,TH,F>
90 R1 -"384* R2 - 416* TH - 0* F - 90* MINS - O
100 PROC HANDS <R1,R2,TH,F>
110 REPEAT
120 CLSt PRINT TAB (0,4) | "CLOCK C"» PRINT TAB (0, 6) I "TEACH T"* PRINT TAB (O,
) » "LEAVE L"
130 INPUT TAB <0, 10) , "ENTER " , A*
140 IF A* ■ "C" THEN PROC .REAL
ISO IF A» - "T" THEN PROC TEACH
160 IF A4 - "L" THEN MODE It END
170 UNTIL FALSE
180 DEF PROC HANDS (R1,R2,TM,F>
190 MOVE X, Yt MOVE X ♦ R1*8IN(TH - PI/F),Y ♦ R1#C06(TH - PI/F)
200 PLOT 03, X ♦ R 1 *S I N ( TH ♦ PI/F>,Y ♦ R1*C0S(TH ♦ PI/F)
210 MOVE X ♦ R1 —SIN (TH - PI/F),Y ♦ R1*C0S(TH - PI/F)
220 DRAW X ♦ Rl *SIN <TH ♦ PI/F),Y ♦ R1*C0S(TH ♦ PI/F)
230 PLOT 83, X ♦ R2*SIN(TH),Y ♦ R2*C0S(TH)
240 ENDPROC
10 Set four-colour graphics window. Set to
magenta. Text window set to yellow.
60 Draw clock-face PROC CLOCK. Set
hands to 6.00 using PROC-HANDS.
110 Initial prompts — procedures called
appropriately until LEAVE selected
appropriately until Lt
Main program loop.
180 Hand drawing procedure requires Rl,
R2— radii of hand; TH— angle of hand
(0-2ir); F— hand width factor. Draws
single hand.
PCNProgramCards
I Analogue Clock Card 2 of 3
S 8302AC2/3
230 DEF PROC CLOCK
260 R - 304* X - 312* Y - 312* CT - -1
270 FOR TH - O TO 2*PI STEP PI/30
200 GCOL 0,3
290 IF CT - 4 THEN GCOL 0,0* CT - -1
300 MOVE X ♦ R-SIN (TH) , Y ♦ R»C08(TH)i DRAW X .♦ (R - 64) *SIN (TH) , V ♦ (R - 64
) -COS (TH)
310 CT - CT ♦ 1
320 NEXT TH
330 ENDPROC
340 DEF PROC .TEACH
330 GCOL 0, 1 * PROC _ HANDS 2
360 MINS - RND (60) - 1* HRS - RND(12) - 1
370 GCOL 0,2* PROC_HANDS2t CLS
300 PRINT TAB (2, 4) I "WHAT TIME IS IT?"
390 INPUT TAB(0, 12) , "HOUR",Ht INPUT TAB (0, 14) , "MINS" , M
400 IF HRS - O THEN HRS - 12
410 PRINT TAB (2, 16 > |HR8| "» "1MINS
420 IF H - HRS AND M - MINS THEN PRINT TAB (O, 18) I "RIGHT. " ELSE PRINT TAB(0, 18
) | "WRONG' "
430 INPUT TAB (O, 24) , "ANOTHER TRY" , A4
440 IF A* - "Y" THEN GOTO 330
430 ENDPROC
460 DEF PROC HANDS 2
470 TH - (Pl730)*MINS* Rl - 384* R2 - 416* F - 90
480 PROC HANDS (Rl , R2, TH, F )
490 TH - (PI/6)*HRS ♦ (PI /360) ♦MINS* Rl - 236* R2 - 312* F - 60
300 PROC HANDS (R1,R2,TH,F>
310 ENDPROC
250 Clock-face procedure. Centre at 51 2,
512, radius 504, mark length 64. Mark
colour white — minutes; black — hours.
Marks at intervals of tt/30.
340 Teaching procedure.
350 Undraw hands. Random hours and
mins. Draw hands at new time in yellow.
Prompt user for hour value and minute
value. Verify input and prompt for repeat
or return to main loop.
460 Procedure to set parameters for
hand-drawing procedure. 480 for
minute. 500 for hour hand — also
adjusted by No. of minutes past hour.
PCN MAR25. 1983
65
PASCAL FOR THE
ZX SPECTRUM
Hisoft are pleased to announce the availability of Hisoft Pascal 4
for the 48K ZX SPECTRUM.
No longer do you have to put up with the slow execution speed of
BASIC programs; Hisoft Pascal 4 produces programs that run
between 40 and 100 (yes 100!) times faster than the equivalent
programs written in ZX SPECTRUM BASIC. For example, a
program to sort a 100 element array of numbers into ascending
order takes 60 seconds in BASIC, while HP4 produces a program
which does the same thing in 0.6 seconds!
NOW you and your children can learn to program in an efficient
and structured way by using Pascal, the favoured language in
schools and universities.
NOW you can write games programs etc. which run as fast as you
need them to without having to resort to assembler or machine
code.
NOW you can use a language which requires minimal re-learning
when you move from your SPECTRUM to another computer;
Hisoft Pascal 4 has all the essential features of Standard Pascal as
detailed in the Pascal User Manual and Report - by Kathleen
Jensen and Niklaus Wirth, the man who designed Pascal.
Hisoft Pascal 4 is a professional piece of software designed by a
team who have been writing Pascal compilers for many years —
you will find it to be powerful, flexible and very easy to use.
To top it all, we are offering the package (which includes a 60 page
manual), for a limited time, to 48K ZX SPECTRUM users at an
INCREDIBLE price of:
ONLY £25 INCLUSIVE
Write for more details TO DA Y to:
S5HISDFT
r3J < -» f . 60 Moor
gthi-guJ Lid*n SWINDON
E_TLZ ) L. SN3 6LS
Tel. (0793) 26616 (Answering machine)
r?:
I
1. GREAT BRITAIN LIMITED.
You are PM and Chancellor. Fight
INFLATION and UNEMPLOYMENT,
balance the BUDGET and try to stay
POPULAR
ACORN USER: Highly enjoyable
ZX COMPUTING: A challenging game
MICRO UPDATE: A dream lor
megalomaniacs
£5.95 on cassette
★ ★ A MUST FOR ELECTION YEAR ★★
2. INHERITANCE
A 2 part game packed full of features
Try to gain your INHERITANCE in part 1
and if successful takeover the
PARADISE COLA Co. in part 2
PERSONAL COMPUTER WORLD Wed
presented and good value tor money
£5.95 on cassette
3. THE WORLD TRAVEL GAME
S 0 ** A game fori or 2 players
Your aim is to collect 6 souvenirs from
f ) (S \ around the world (from Russia to
K s' / A Falklands) in the shortest possible time
V- \ Cope with HIJACKS. STRIKES,
/ > V) THIEVES. CASH SHORTAGES.
^ / BANKRUPTCIES. BAD WEATHER,
/ ETC World Map & full instructions
^ u / supplied
X. v' BBC ONLY:
£6.95 on cassette
Available from your local computer shop or direct from:
SIMON W HESSEL SOFTWARE, Dept. P
15 Lytham Court, Cardwell Crescent,
Sunninghill, Berkshire. Tel: Ascot 25179
24 Hour despatch
BBC 32K
1 Year guarantee
SPECTRUM 48K
FOX ELECTRONICS
Products for the ZX81 SPECTRUM VIC 20
and JUPITER ACE
SPECTRUM
UPGRADE KIT Upgrades your
machine to 48K, without so(derin<
Issue 2 machines only
£24.50
A replacement keyboard with a
calculator type feel Peel off backing
and press to fit.
Incredibly low
price of
£10.00 mtamm
INCL P&P
VIC-20
The VIXEN RAM CARTRIDGE for
the Vic 20
Switchable between 16K or 8K & 3K
Gives you the option of full 1 6K RAM
or 8K and 3K RAM in one package
Simply plugs into the rear expansion
port and fully compatible with all
motherboards and modules
available No re-addressing of
existing BASIC
programs
£39.95
FOX ELECTRONICS
141 Abbey Road, Basingstoke,
Hants. RG21 9ED
OVERSEAS CUSTOMERS PLEASE
ADO £2.50 POST ANO PACKING.
SPECTRUM
A 42 key full travel keyboard Simply
unscrew the ZX printed circuit board
and screw it into the keyboard case
No soldering
requ,red WAWWA
£29.95 1
-£2 00 P&P
ZX81
The unique ZX-PANDA the
professionally produced 16K RAM
PACK that is expandable to 32K
simply by plugging in our expansion
module
solidly built, attractively
cased to tit perfectly on
to ZX8 1 without HggH
Includes LED power
1 6K expandable RAM
£22.50- £2.00 P&P
1 6K expansion module
£18.00- £2.00 P&P
orfull32K £38.00 -£2 00 P&P
or the really big one 64K at
£44.00 ♦ 2 00 P&P
ALL PRODUCTS
FULLY GUARANTEED FOR ONE YEAR
Deliveries 10 days from receipt ot order
THIS MONTH’S
BRAINWAVES FOR NEWBRAINS
AT LAST...
THE FIRST HIGH RESOLUTION GRAPHICS
PROGRAM FOR THE GRUNDY NEWBRAIN
OTHELLO
**** Superb Graphics **** 3 Skill Levels *»** 1 or 2 Player •***
There is even a computer vs computer option for you to study the
techniques of the game and improve your own skill.
CASSETTE £4.00
ANOTHER FAST ACTION GAME
WORMS
An exciting game in which you play the part of a worm which has to
catch ana eat random numbers which appear on the screen.
However, there are one or two problems . every number you
swallow increases not only your score, but your length!!! If you
happen to reverse suddenly, you will choke yourself to death, and
your skeleton will be left to obstruct you the next time around — and
guess what happens if you should hit your ever-growing tail!!!
CASSETTE £4.00
We have many more programs, including pages —
wordworker — directory mailist — pricelist — diary —
telephone — send stamp for details cassette loading hints’
leaflet — free with every pricelist.
OUR PROGRAMS NOW AVAILABLE FROM ALL NEW-
BRAIN DEALERS
Good original NewBrain programs always required — why
not call us?
ALL THE ABOVE PRICES INCLUDE FIRST CLASS POSTAGE AND
PACKING
ALL PROGRAMS ARE IN STOCK AND SENT BY RETURN POST
DEALER ENQUIRIES INVITED
BRAINWAVE SOFTWARE LIMITED
Tilbury-Juxta-Clare, Nr. Halstead, Essex C09 4JT
Tel: 0787-237831
66
PCN MAR 25. 1983
MICROS NOW IN STOCK
OOB
DRAGON
32K
Frogger Golf
Planes Alcatraz 1 1
Space Kingdom Planet Invasion
Galaxians Star Trek
A vast selection of cassettes,
cartridges and joysticks for both
computers
.... and PRINTERS from £235
60000000 O OOOOO O OOO OOO O i
O OOOOOOO O OOO Oi
OOO OO OOO OO O OO O (
O O OOOOO O OOOOOO O OO <
OOOO O O OOO O OOO OOO O (
StatcxmLtd.234HighSt .Sutton. Surrey SMI 1NX 016612266
WANT PRINTERS?
CAN’T GET
EPSONS???
TRY THE BRITISH
ALTERNATIVE
EX STOCK NOW
(CENTRONICS, SERIAL AND IEEE 488 INTERFACES)
PHONE
01 - 952-7956
LLAMASOFT!!
AWESOME GAMES SOFTWARE!
— for VIC, COMM 64, ATARI, SPECTRUM
III new from the designer of gridrunner
Hi SO GOOD IT WILL BLOW YOUR MIND!! I
Hi SO FAST IT WILL BLOW YOU AWAY!! |
The BIGGEST ADVANCE in Video
Games design since Defender hit
LASER ZONE Quite simply the £
S&i: BEST VIC-20 Came in existence!' I
igijjjji Laser Zone requires a Joystick, 8 or £
H&16k. and DEDICATION'! I
gflE Designed and Programmed by
Jeff Mmter for the VIC-20 with 8 or
Ram Pack. If you don't yet have
jxjxj: the memory, LASER ZONE IS THE
iSj:;: ONLY EXCUSE YOU NEED TO BUY IT!
Experience Laser Zone-an utterly
liillll®! NEW. TOTALLY ORIGINAL MASTER-
i^x-iwwj^ l^CE of_Video Games Design 11
PWfS
i isi V I
(U ^TII
/ / /
tcaooS
V.
Learn to control two spaceships
gigg at once. FEEL THE EXHILARATION
as. a,ter lon 8 houfs practise, you
gjgjg contr °l the two ships so that they
£•£& function as a SMOOTH. CO-
:g:g:g OPERATIVE TEAM!!
Feel the RAW POWER as you lunge
:j: : xj for the Electro Button and BLAST
X;X; your enemies into expanding clouds
igigof SPACE JUNK'!
IN-: FEEL THE HUMILIATION *as a
ggj carelessly -aimed BLAST SLAMS into
gxj the side of your last remaining ship!'
gi|l:':A COMMODORE 64 version will |
jij&xbe available soon. I
LLAMASOFT — 49 Mount Pleasant, Tadley, Hants. Tel: 07356-4478
Please add SOp p&p to all orders
68
PCN MAR 25, 1983
PCNProgramCards
Chart Generator Card 2 of 3
8302SCG2/3
PRINT "Data rang* is t *
PRINT "X-Axim 4r oai ",LX," TO ",MX
PRINT "Y-Axi* from " , LY , " TO " , HY
INPUT "Sal act X -Ax i a lowar limit - M ,LOX
INPUT "Salact X-Axia upper limit - ",HIX
IF HIX <- LOX THEN PRINT Efts GO TO 1040
INPUT "Salact Y-Axia lowar limit - ",LOY
INPUT "Salact Y-Axia upper limit - " , HI Y
IF HI Y <- LOY THEN PRINT E4i GO TO 1070
INPUT "Salact Y-Axia croaa-over (aa X) ■ ",0X
IF OX > HIX THEN PRINT E4i GO TO 1090
IF OX < LOX THEN PRINT E4i GO TO 1090 .
INPUT "Salact X-Axia crosa-over (aa Y> - ",0Y
IF OY > HI Y THEN PRINT E4i GO TO 1120
IF OY < LOY THEN PRINT Eti GO TO 1120
INPUT "Salact X-Axia atap sizm - ",8X
INPUT "Salact Y-Axia atap aiza - ",8Y
LET IX - Oi LET IY - 0
IF OX - LOX THEN LET IX - 8
IF OY - LOY THEN LET IY - 8
LET XS - (256 - IX) /(HIX - LOX)i LET Y8 - (168 - IY)/<HIY - LOY)
LET RX - 8X * XSi LET RY - BY * YS
LET X - IX ♦ <0X - LOX ) *X8i LET Y - IY ♦ (OY - LOY) •YB ♦ 8
PAPER 5* INK 6i BRIGHT 1
CLSi PLOT IX, Yi DRAW 255 - IX, Ol PLOT X, IY ♦ 8i DRAW 0,167 - IY
FOR M - IX TO 255 - IX STEP RX
PLOT M,Y - 4 i DRAW 0,8
FOR M - IY ♦ 0 TO 167 - IY STEP RY
PLOT X - 4, Hi DRAW 8,0
NEXT M
1000 Chart drawing routine. Displays X and Y
data range.
1030 Select range of axes.
1 090 Select point where Y-axis crosses
X-axis. X origin.
1 1 20 Select point where X-axis crosses
Y-axis. Y origin.
1 1 50 Select distance between axial marks.
1 1 62 Calculate indent for X and/or Y if either
origin is zero.
1 1 70 Calculate X and Y scaling factor
Absolute mark steps. Absolute origin.
1 1 95 Set display colours. Draw axes
1210 Draw marks for X-axis.
1230 Draw marks for Y-axis.
PCNProgramCards
Chart Generator Card 3 of 3
8302SCG33
1250 INPUT "Arm thm sum m cermet'’.", AA
1260 IF At • M N" THEN INK Ol PAPER 7» CLSi GO TO iOOO
1270 IF A* <> -Y- THEN PRINT Eti GO TO 1250
1200 INPUT "Bmlmct <L)ir»m or <B)*r chart", At
1290 IF At - "L" THEN GO TO 1500
1300 IF At <> "B" THEN PRINT Eti GO TO 1200
1310 INK 3i BRIGHT 1
1320 FOR B - 1 TO L
1330 LET PX - (8 (B, 1 ) - L0X)*X8 ♦ IX* LET PY - (B(B,2> - L0Y)*Y8 ♦ IV ♦ 0
1340 PLOT PX , Y i DRAW 0,PY - Y
1350 NEXT B
1360 INPUT < "X i " I LOX I " TO "»HIX|" BY "|SX|" Y»"|LOY|" TO "|HIY|" BY "|8Y» (R)m
run or (N)ot"), At
1370 IF At - "R" THEN INK 0« PAPER 7i CLSi GO TO 1000
1380 IF At <> "N" THEN PRINT Eti GO TO 1360
1390 INK Ol PAPER 7i CLSi RETURN
1500 INK 3i BRIGHT 1
1510 LET PX - (8(1,1) - LOX)*XS ♦ IXl LET PY - <8(1, 2) - LOY)*YS ♦ IY ♦ 8
1520 PLOT PX , PY
1530 FOR C - 2 TO L
1540 LET PX - ( (8 (C, 1 ) - LOX)*XS «■ IX) - <<8(C - 1,1) - LOX)*XS ♦ IX)
1550 LET PY - ( (8 (C, 2) - L0Y)*Y8 ♦ IY ♦ 0) - <(8<C - 1,2) - LOY)*YB ♦ IY ♦ 8)
1560 DRAW PX , PY
1570 NEXT C
1500 GO TO 1360
2000 CLSi PRINT "NO. X Y"i LET CT - 1
2010 FOR B - 1 TO L
2020 PRINT Bt TAB 41 S(B,1)I TAB 161 S(B,2)
2030 IF CT - 20 THEN INPUT "Nmxt ptgm - Prmm* mny kmy", Ati LET CT - 0
2040 LET CT - CT ♦ 1
2050 NEXT B
2060 RETURN
1250 Prompt. If "hT re-enter axial
parameters. "Y’\ continue.
1280 Select type of chart.
1 31 0 Bar chart routine. Set bar colour.
1 320 Extract data from array S. Calculate and
draw bars until data exhausted.
1 360 Display axial data and accept input for
change of axes or return to main-line.
1 500 Une chart routine (X must be in
ascending order in array S). Set line
colour. Plot first point
1 530 Extract data from Array S. Calculate
relative positions and draw continuous
line until data exhausted.
2000 Display data routine — 20 statistics per
page. Press any key to see next page.
Continues until data exhausted
Returns to main-line.
PCN MAR 25. 1983
M
I t ih ijH W. Of. //_/-'/-
MICROSPHERE COMPUTER SERVICES LTD
72 ROSEBERY ROAD LOflDOH HIO 2LA
TELEPHONE 01-883 94 1 1
EVOLUTION (48K Spectrum)
Can you Trace the course of evolution?
Start with primaeval soup & end up with man?
Survive the odd maior disaster?
Should be easy after all it’s been done before'
Only £6 95
OMNICALC (48K Spectrum)
The best spreadsheet analysis program you can buy for the
Spectrum Uses include financial planning, home budgets etc
Features 99 columns or 250 rows
Fully prompted input
Extensive repeat facilities
Conditional expressions and RND
Totalling and sub-totalling
Comprehensive manual
£995
ZX-SIDEPRINT (For Spectrum or ZX81)
Print sideways on the ZX-Printer to give proper 80/132
etc character print lines
Easy to add to existing programs
Routines to take print lines direct from screen
Lower case letters even on a ZX81'
(State version req'd) £4 95
CREVASSE A HOTFOOT H6K Spectrum)
2 original games from Microsphere
Can you make it across the ice cap whilst chasms open and
close all around?
Help the rabbit get to fields full of carrots but remember the
plumper the rabbit the greater the danger
Excellent value £4 95
Tidy up your BBC Computer.
Television — Cassette Recorder — Single or Double
Disc Drive
All accommodated on a professional console
This robust GRP Console also has provision for 10
cassettes and a foolscap notepad.
Size: 27V2in (700mm) x 31 V 2 in (800mm)
A WORTHWHILE INVESTMENT at £39.95
INCLUSIVE OFP&P
Cheque or PO to:
LAMPLAS (DURHAM) LTD
7/9 RAMSAY STREET, HIGH SPEN
ROWLANDS GILL, TYNE & WEAR
DEALER ENQUIRIES INVITED
ZX AND ORIC CONSOLES AVAILABLE SHORTLY
Flight simulator
DRAGON 32
Cassettes
MRC
Air combat and ground strike, “joystick” controlled
sights cannon fire and bomb release. Full colour
hi-res graphics 3D and sound £6.50 inc. p&p.
Fruit
Compulsive, addictive, fruit machine. Using your skill
with the holds, turn your £5 stake into £10 and beat
x the system. Hi-res graphics and sound. £4.05 inc. p&p
Look and Learn
Educational picture recognition. Hi-res graphics, text
and colour. Age 3-10yrs £4.05 inc. p&p.
Pontoon
Super Hi-res graphics, full colour definition and card
display. Fascinating, absorbing £4.05 inc. p&p.
DRAGON and ORIC “ JUNIPER " word processor,
comprehensive edit facilities, menu and cursor driven
/£25.00 inc. p&p
Tango Foxtrot 01
Using your skill, locate the airstrip with the radar
scanner, fly your aircraft through hazardous
crosswinds and air pockets to land safely. Watch your
fuel; watch your artificial horizon; be sure you are
level on final approach. Full colour, hi-res graphics,
3D and sound. £6.50 inc p&p
I QUARK DATA P.O. BOX 61 , Swindon, Wilts. Tel. (0793) 40661 .
| Please supply
| Cheque for total amount enclosed
| Name
I Address
70
PCN MAR 25. 1983
PCN MAR25.19K3
*Whidi„PR INTER f
^What COMPUTED
^MicroGeneral the specialists for Printer Selection
Contact us for our expert advice on all your Interfacing problems
It’s not just a question of plug in and lets go. There are now over 200 different connector
situations. How do you know that your computer will accept the printer of your choice? We at Micro General ^
do not sell boxes off the shelf. As computer engineers we help you to choose and install the right printer for your computer.
The advice is free and it could save you some embarrassing mistakes — Buy from us for peace of mind.
EPSON MATRIX PRINTERS
■ Prica From S'
■£298 /
1 + vat ^
RX 80 f ractor only 1 00 CPS
£298 -F vat
FX 80 160 CPS
£438-1- vat
MX 100 100 CPS full width
£499 -F vat
Call for details of Sprinter 32K buff
adaptor unit from £249+vat
MICROLINE RANGE
1 £21 1 + vat
Microline 80 80cps £211+ vat
Microline 82A 120cps £370 + vat
Microline 83A 120cps £529+ vat
Microline 84 200cps £847+vat
(The M84 has High Res Graphics plus
Near Letter Quality Print)
NEW ADO! TUN'S TO TNI MICROUNE FAMILY
(All with Near Letter Quality Printing and
High Resolution Graphics)
Microline 92 160cps £476+vat
(80 cols at 10 cpi)
Microline 93 160cps £688+ vat
Full Width (136 cols at 10 cpi)
TRIUMPH-ADLERTRD 170S
^ DAISY WHEEL
PRINTER
HIGHLY RECOMMENDED
LOW COST QUALITY PRINTER
• Amazingly quiet for the office environment
• Serial or Parallel Interface
• Tractor Feed & Single Sheet Feeder available
• Character Pitch 10. 12, 15 cpi & Proportional
i
I C r O ■ Always call for the best possible price Cl S Access/Visa
'eneral (Dept pcn33) 6 The Birchwoodsjilehurst, Reading, RG3 5UH Tel: 0734 25226
SOFTWARE LIBRARY
LIFE MEMBERSHIP £10
HIRE FEES £1 + 25p p&p
PER PROGRAM PER FORTNIGHT
ALL PROGRAMS INCLUDED IN
OUR LIBRARY WITH THE
MANUFACTURER’S PERMISSION!
We aim to be the biggest and best Software
Library service for the Dragon
Send membership fee for:
Membership Card, Regular Dragon Fact
Sheet, Sofware List and Order Form
SAE for details
JOYSTICKS FOR DRAGON 32. Analogue Type with fire
button, attractively styled for maximum reliability and ease of
use — £8 plus 50p p&p each.
DUST COVERS. Soft PVC with black piping to protect your
Dragon — £3.50 + 30p p&p.
HI-RES GRAPHICS PLAN SHEET. Map out your Hi res
graphics display for perfect results on your Dragon — £2.90 +
50p p&p.
SYSTEMS SAC. Foam lined nylon bag with extra foam
inserts. Strong carry handle/shoulder strap. Transport your
Dragon and Accessories with full protection — £20 + £1 p&p.
MASTER PLUG. Compact 4-way multi-plug complete with
mains plug and 4 extension plugs. Good value at £9.50 + £1
p&p.
BLANK Cl 2 CASSETTES — high quality batch certified. 1 2
months’ guarantee, 60p.
DRAGON COMPANION. Essential reading for serious
programmers. Includes description of all 14 resolution
modes, processor speeds, easier input of machine code,
Rom routines, adding your own commands to basic,
disassembler listing. £5 + 35p p&p.
1 OAKWOOD ROAD, RODE HEATH, STOKE-ON-TRENT. Telephone: (09363) 5695
72
PCN MAR25, 1983
DATABASES
This week PCN Databasics lists software packages We can't fit them all in so we've
compiled a selection, giving best sellers from 100 publishers and distributors.
We confined coverage to five main types of applications: business, education,
games, home and utility. All details published are the latest available.
Companies wanting to add their best-selling packages to Databasics. or wanting to
update information already here, should send details to: Databasics. Personal
Computer News. VNU. 62 Oxford Street. London W1A 2HG.
APPLICATION Each software package is listed alphabetically by its application.
PRICE includes VAT
MACHINE OPERATING SYSTEM on which the best selling package runs.
OTHER VERSIONS indicates whether or not the package runs on a different machine
or operating system.
MEDIA SUPPLIED indicates in what format the package comes — either cassette,
disk or cartridge.
MAIL ORDER AVAILABLE tells you whether or not the package is available by mail
order.
HARDWARE REQUIRED shows the need for special hardware such as disk drive,
joystick or printer.
PUBLISHER DISTRIBUTOR This code refers to the distributor code table which will
give the name and telephone number of the publisher distributor.
COMMENTS any other points of interest.
SOFTWARE
BUSINESS
Hardware
Required
Accounting
£3.320
Apple II
• J
Financial Controller
48K
•
SI
Also on Apple ME 8 modules (£402 50 each) — sales, purchase, invoicing, etc
£339 25
Apple II
General Ledger
48K
•
Cl
Supports 1000 accounts and 100 analyses Self-balancing, full audit trail
£552
Apple II
Informex Integrated Accounting System
48K
•
n
Contains nominal, sales, purchase ledger - VAT Can handle 800 accounts
£1.147 70
Apple II
Informex Integrated Business System
48K
•
n
Contains accounting system modules plus invoicing + stock
£172 50
Apple II
Micro-General Ledger
48K
•
G1
Also on ITT 3030 and Basis 108 Goes through profit loss * balance sheets
£402 50
Apple II
Nominal Ledger
64K
J
•
J1
Also on Sirius. IBM PC, Apple III + UCSD. Requires 132 column printer
£431 25
Apple II
Payroll
48K
•
Cl
Supports weekly, monthly. + per monthly Up to 350 employees per disk
£402 50
Apple II
Purchase Accounting & Cost Control
64K
•
J1
Requires 132 column printer, also Sirius. IBM PC. Apple III. UCSD.
£402 50
Apple II
Sales Accounting System
64K
J1
Also on Sirius. IBM PC. UCSD Provides conventional ledger
£339 25
Apple II
' 4
Sales Ledger
48K
•
Cl
Supports 700 + accounts. Direct posting, credit control & 100 analyses, self balancing
£1.725
Commodore 8000
Auditman
32K
•
C4
Also on Commodore 4000 Complete accounts production system
£1.552 25
Commodore 8000
Businessman
32K
•
C4
Also on Commodore 4000 Can be used with Auditman 5 modules
£2.025 75
Commodore 8000
Data Lex
32K
•
D1
Designed for solicitors + others who need to separate office & client s accounts
£345
Commodore 8000
Microfacts
32K
•
•
Ml
Also on Victor & Sirius £345 per module Needs hard disk Integrated accounting
£454 25
Commodore 8000
V
Micro-simplex
32K
•
•
M2
Also on Commodore 64 (£1 72 50) Needs printer For smaller retail business
£2.300
Commodore 4000
Pegasus Integrated Accounting Suite
32K
•
P3
Also on MS-DOS (128K). Contains six stand alone modules
£1.437 50
CP M
Aurora Integrated Accounting Package
64K
•
•
G1
Five stand alone modules Sales, invoicing, purchase, nominal and stock
£2.760
CP M
Boss
64K
•
FI
Seven stand alone modules Can link to Autowriter & Autoindex
£805
CP M
Cash Book Accounting
64K
:
•
•
S2
Also on CP M-86 and MS-DOS Amalgamation of sales, purchase & nominal ledger
£2.300 00
CP M
dBFlex
48K
•
•
El
Open item six module accounting system. (£575.00) per module Works with dBase II
£402 50
CP M
Exact
64K
•
•
S3
Also on MS-DOS Includes six modules — invoicing, ledgers, stock and payroll
£37375
CP M
Fast Nominal
60 K
•
•
•
T1
Also on MS-DOS Needs 132 character printer Can define up to 99 report layouts
£3.059
CP M
ISBS-W
64K
•
•
G2
Comes on hard disk Contains ISBS functions plus job costing and purchase control
£1.840
CP M
ISBS-S
48K
•
•
G2
Also on CP M-86 Contains seven modules
£2.271 25
CP M
l •
Multi- Index
64K
1
L .
•
•
81 1
AlsoonMP M& PC-DOS Contains five modules Sales, nominal. VAT& stock control
£569 25
CP M
Nucleus
64K
i
•
•
C2
Also on MS-DOS Disk drives of 280K needed A program generating system
£1.431 75
CP M
Padmede Business Control System
64K
*
•
•
P2
Five modules (£286 35 per module) Nominal, sales, purchase, invoicing, stock
£1.380
CP M
Motor Dealers Part Distribution
64K
i
•
•
S2
Also on CP M 86 & MS-DOS Combines stock control, order processing ledgers
£1.868 75
CP M
Peachtree Basic Accounting Systems
48K
•
•
PI
Also on MP M & MS-DOS Available on hard disk (£2. 1 56 25) 5 stand alone modules.
Price
me vat
Machine
Operating
System
s
Memory
required
Media
Supplied
I
!
t
Hardware
Required
Publisher/
Distributor
j
Cassette
1
|
I
1
I
i
£287 50
CP M
Sales Ledger
64K
•
•
•
S2
Also on CP M 86 and MS-DOS Flexible ledger system
£4542
Sharp MZ80A
Easy VAT
48K
•
•
•
K1
Also on Sharp M280B & M200K VAT record system.
Agriculture
£1.150
Apple II
Dairy Package
64K
•
•
F2
Available on floppy or hard disk Files individual cow production, with herd summaries
£1,725
Apple II
Financial Management Program
64K
•
•
F2
Available on floppy or hard disk. Accounts for farm estate management
£1.150
Apple II
Management Program
64K
•
•
F2
Available on floppy or hard disk. Monitors individual field activities, budgets, etc
Bill of Materials
£373.75
CP M
Fastbill
60 K
•
•
•
T2
Also on MS-DOS & TRS-DOS Will give parts explosion at 10 levels, 99 items level
Bookeeper
£56 35
Apple II
Apple Bookeeper
48K
•
•
•
•
HI
Needs printer Keeps petty cash, sales, other business books, sorts, analysis etc.
Building Specifications
£460
Commodore 8000
National Building Specifications
32K
•
•
•
C3
Also on Commodore 4000 Used with Wordcraft Produces building specifications.
Business Management
£4.140
CP M
Peach tree Business Management System
48K
•
•
•
PI
Also on MP M & Unix. Available on hard disk (£6.900). Six modules for single user
Cataloguing
£46 00
Apple II
F'oppy Cat
48K
•
•
•
P4
Enables user to catalogue & store all information
Estate Agents
£1.092 50
Apple II
Commercial Agency Systems
48K
•
•
•
C7
Matches in both directions with lists, labels and letters
£977 50
Apple II
Cyderpress Clients Recoverable Costs
48K
•
•
•
C7
Also on Rair Black Box Designed to keep record of incurred expenditures
£1.121 00
Apple II
Cyderpress Residential System
48K
•
•
•
C7
Also on Rair Black Box An applicant & property matching system
£419.75
CP M
Estate Agents Match & Mail
56K
•
•
•
S4
Matches & prints out potential customers for every property.
Financial Accounting
£1.926.25
CP M
Fast Range
60K
•
•
•
•
T1
Also on MS-DOS & TRS-DOS Needs 132 character pnnter 5 modules
Financial Planning
£44 85
Commodore Pet
Busicalc
16K
•
•
S5
Also on Commodore 3. 4. & 8000. Vic-20 and Commodore 64 £46 57 on floppy disk
£569 25
Commodore 8000
Finplan
32K
•
•
M3
Also on Hytec A ICL PC 96K version available Helps decide on financial strategy
£287 50
Commodore 8096
Financial Director
96K
•
•
P5
Designed to handle large & complex planning & financial applications
£188 60
Apple II
VisiCalc
48K
•
•
•
•
R1
Also on Apple III. Commodore & IBM PC. etc The classic spreadsheet
£345 00
CP M
Bottom-Line Strategist
48K
•
•
•
P4
A business protect forecasting program Allows user to test business assumptions.
£454 25
CP M
Fastplan
64K
•
•
•
C5
Needs double density disks A file based modelling system for business planners
£281 75
CP M
Master Planner
64K
•
•
•
C5
Also on MS-DOS & CP M 86 Needs 80 column printer Upgrade of a spread sheet
£396 75
CP M
Micro Plan
64K
•
•
•
Bl
Also on MP M Spreadsheet financial planner
£343 85
CP M
Minimodel Financial Modelling
48K
•
•
•
•
G1
Needs 80 column screen Model consolidation facility, colour option
£182 85
CP M
•
Multi-Plan
48K
•
•
•
P4
Also on PC-DOS. Cromix. Fortune. Corvus A Sirius. Second generation spreadsheet
£44 85
CP M
Plannercalc
64K
•
•
•
•
C5
Needs 80 column screen Entry level system for spreadsheet planning
£218.50
CP M
SP2020
48K
•
•
•
G2
Forecast effects of proposed actions Aid to management decision-making
£172 50
CPM
Supercalc
128K
•
•
A1
Electronic worksheet, representing a large flexible accounting work pad
£212.75
CP M
Super Calculator
48K
•
•1
•
El
Spreadsheet calculator
£178 25
CPM
T-Maker
48K
•
•
•
LI
Utility for analysis & presentation of numerical data & test material
£224 25
MS-DOS
Pulsar Business System
128K
•
•
A1
Consists of eight integrated packages & provides commercial accounting functions
£339 25
Osborne
•
PADAC
64K
•
•
•
P2
Also on CP M. Two systems Incomplete records accounting, time cost recording
£632 50
UCSD-PSystem
M . . . n es ,.
128K
•
•
•
D1
Financial modelling program for businessmen
£741 75
UCSD-P System
•
Micro-Modeller
48K
•
•
•
12
Also on CP M & MS-DOS Designed for large corporations.
Industrial Costing
£747.50
Apple II
•
Stock & Production Costing
48K
•
•
•
•
A2
Also on Apple HE & III & Sirius. Available on hard disk. Needs Pascal system
Insurance Accounting
£1.380
Commodore 4000
•
Insurance Man
32K
•
•
C4
Also in Commodore 8000. provides insurance broker with sales ledger
Insurance Broking
£5.462 50
ICL DRS20
HS-100
64K
•
•
•
•
H2
Requires 16 or 27 Mb hard disk to run off Maintains client & policy records
Integrated Software
£569 25
IBM PC
Context MBA
256K
•
•
B2
Also on Sirius A Victor Comprises word processor database management system
£908 50
Commodore 8000
•
Silicon Office
256K
•
•
FI
Integrated spreadsheet modelling, graphics. WP. database A communications.
Invoicing
£323 75
CPM
•
Fast Invoicing
60 K
•
•
•
T1
Also on MS-DOS A TRS-DOS Can link into Fast Sales A Fast Stock
Linear Programming
£373.75
CPM
•
Optimiser
48K
•
•
•
C6
Also on Apple Management tool for optimizing the deployment of scarce resources
Local Authority
£862 50
Commodore 8000
•
PUS WA
96K
•
•
M3
Also on Hytec Monitors road holes under Public Utilities Street Work Act (1950).
£569 25
Commodore 8000
Road Register
96K
•
•
M3
D-base network based on road names Modules (£373.75) on street lighting etc
Mailing
£8625
CPM
Mailing List
56K
•
•
•
S4
Works with Super file Prints labels, files, names A addresses Mail merge facility
Mwgwrunt
£226 16
CPM
•
Scratch Pad 3.0
48K
•
•
•
M4
Also on CP M 86. MS-DOS A PC-DOS Spreadsheet using virtual memory
Mathematics
£28 75
Commodore Pet
•
Infinite Arithmetic
16K
•
•
S5
Also on Commodore 3000. 4000 A 8000 Available on floppy disk
Medical
£517.50
Apple II
•
Medical System
48K
•
•
•
A 2
Also on Apple HE. III A Sirius (£573.85) On hard disk Age sex register
Office Information
£402 50
Apple II
•
Prophet II
48K
•
•
•
A4
Also on IBM PC A Corvus Concept Information system which acts as a noticeboard
Payroll
£69 00
Apple II
Payroll
48K
•
•
•
HI
Also available as cassette for Spectrum ZX81 (£25 00) Needs printer
£287 50
Apple II
•
Tabs Payroll
48K
•
T3
Also on CP M & MS-DOS (64K) Up to 2000 employees, nine pay schemes.
£977 50
CP M
•
Powerday
48K
•
•
02
Also on MP M and MS-DOS Integrates with Omicrons nominal ledger Handles SSR
Project Management
£747 00
IBM PL
•
Micronet
48K
•
•
T2
Also on ICL PC. Sinus, Superbrain. Apple II. & others Critical path analysis
Project Planning
£1.150 00
Commodore 8000
Hornet
32K
•
•
C3
Has eight optional variants (all eight £4.025) Network logic & variety of screen display
Property Management
£51750
Apple II
•
Property Management System
48K
•
•
A2
Also on Apple III. Apple HE & Sirius. Prints rent reminders, demands etc
Purchase Ledger
£287 50
Apple II
•
Tabs Purchase Ledger
48K
•
•
T3
Also on CP M & MS-DOS (64K) Open item ledger — automatic payment facility, etc
£805 00
CP M
•
Powerbought
48K
•
•
02
Also on MP M & MS-DOS Integrates with Omicron s Nominal Ledger System
Sales Ledger
£287 50
Apple II
•
Tabs Sales Ledger
48K
•
F
•
T3
Also on CP M & MS-DOS Part of integrated system 300 analysis codes
£373 75
CP M
•
Fast Sales
60 K
•
•_
•
_•
T1
Also on MS-DOS & TRS DOS Needs 132 character printer Part of Fast Range
£805 00
CP M
•
Powersales
48K
•
•
02
Also on MP M & MS-DOS Multi-user system based on mainframe software
£325
DEC Rainbow 100
•
Sales Ledger System
64K
•
F
•
D2
Also on DEC Mate II. Invoicing & monthly statement generating system
Sales Order Processing
£805 00
CP M
•
Compact Sales Order Processing
64K
•
•
•
C2
Also on CP M 80. 86 & MS-DOS Comes on hard disk Control, stock, ledgers
Sales. Purchase. Nominal Ledger
£1.207 50
CP M
•
Compact Sales. Purchase & Nominal Ledger
64K
•
•
•
C2
Also on CP M 80. 86 & MS-DOS Follows Standard accounting procedures
Sick Pay
£80 50
Apple II
•
Statutory Sick Pay (SSP)
48K
•
•
•
HI
Mso on Spectrum Does all SSP calculations
Statistics
£172 50
Apple II
•
Inter-Stat
48K
•
F
G1
Also on Basis 108 & ITT 3030 Needs printer
£9 20
Sharp MZ80A
•
Statistical Analysis
48K
•
•
K3
Also on MZ80K Calculates mean & standard deviation for up to 100 items
£1500
Sinclair ZX81
•
Critical Path Analysis (CPA)
8K
•
HI
Also on Spectrum (16K) Activities entered from arrow diagram Finds critical path
£977 50
UCSD-P System
Trend Plot
128K
F
•
F
F
P5
Needs Hewlett Packard Plotter Developed to analyse historical time senes data
Stock Control
£373 75
CP M
•
Fast Stock
60K
•
•
_•
T1
Also on MS-DOS & TRS DOS Needs 1 32 character printer
£3.289
CP M
M-SIS
48K
•_
T2
Stock control system for manufacturing industry
£3392
Newbrain
Stock Control 40 4
32K
F
F
E2
Stores large quantities of stock, accumulates new stock levels & checks stock level
£25 00
Sinclair Spectrum
•
Stock Control
48K
•_
HI
Also ZX81 Fast fwd’add delete item Prints complete or selective lists & total value
Word Processing
£228 85
Apple II
Format 80
48K
F
F
F
P6
Also Apple HE. Needs 80 column card Storage retrieval of names & addresses
£92 00
Apple II
Piewriter
48K
•
F
•
_•
M5
Needs 80 column card Allows entry, editing & print formatting of any text type
£125 35
Apple II
Wordhandler
48K
•
•_
•
P4
Word processor for the non-professional — minimum Apple system
£152 95
Apple III
F
Apple Writer 2
48K
P6
Also Apple II Has word wrap, glossary & word processing language
£28 50
BBC Model B
Alphabeta
32K
F
F
H3
Also available on disk Suitable for home & business
£1050
BBC Model B
Word Pro
32K
•_
•
14
Includes DELETE. INSERT. SAVE. Date etc
£90 85
Commodore 64
Infomast
64K
F
•
F
R2
Combined programmable word processor. Database and calculator
£89 00
Commodore 64
F
Paperclip
64 K
•
•
A3
Also Commodore 8000 Compatible with WordPro & SpellPro
£488 75
Commodore 8000
•
Wordcraft
32K
F
D1
Also on SuperPet & Sirius 1 Routine correspondence, mailing, proposals, contracts
£51 75
Commodore Pet
•
Papermate ♦
16K
F
F
S5
Also on Commodore 64. 3. 4. & 8000 Available on floppy (£53 49)
£125 00
Commodore BK-20
•
Wordcraft 20
8K
•
•_
F
A3
Also Commodore 64 — needs printer Comprehensive word processor
£14500
CP M
•
Mail Merge
64K
F
F
XI
Also on CP M 86 and PC-DOS An optional MERGE. PRINT, extra for Wordstar
287 50
CP M
•
Peachtext
48K
•
•
F
PI
Also MP M & MS-DOS Needs high quality printer Contains proof reader
£339 00
CP M
•
Perfect Writer Speller
64K
•
F
•
S3
Also MS-DOS & Apple DOS Contains quick reference card
£431 25
CP M
•
Select Word Processing System
64K
•
•
•
B1
Also MP M & PC DOS Screen-oriented system
£31625
CP M
Spellbinder
48K
•
•
•
El
Also on Oasis Word processing & office management system
£333 50
CP M
WP2020
48K
•
•_
•
G2
Menu-driven, machine independent Set of key-tops provided
£225 00
IBM PC
Easywriter II
64K
•
•
XI
Bold face & underscoring on screen 80.000 word spell checker extra (£43 1 5)
£340 40
IBM PC
VisiWord
64K
•
•
F
R6
Needs printer
£339 25
MS DOS
F
WordStar
128K
•_
•
A1
Also on CP M Needs printer Complete screen-based WP
£40 25
Newbrain
Word Processor 40 1 2
32K
•
F
E2
Automatic word wrap, editing, saving paragraphs, deleting
£325 00
OS9
Stylograph
32K
F
F
S6
Expandable system with modular design
£4542
Sharp MZ804
Wordpro
48K
F
F
K1
Also on MZ80B > K. Available on disk (£91 94) One of few WP packages for Sharp
£4995
Tartf^RS80l
□
AJ Edit
32K
□
□
□
□
M6
Also on Genie 1 & II Need^rinte^^
EDUCATION
Basic Course
£9 95
Texas Instruments 99 4 A
Beginners Basic Tutor
16K
•
•
T5
Gives explanations and examples of Tl Basic — lets the user try
£1395
Texas Instruments 99 4A
Teach Yourself Extended Basic
16K
•
•
T5
Needs extended Basic module
Business Game
£9 95
BBC Model A
F
Business Game
16K
•
•
W1
Also on Model B Two games for economics, business & general studies, teaching
£6 84
BBC Model A
•
Inkosi
32K
•
•
C9
Also on Model B Rule for ten years, overcoming obstacles, e g famines
Chemistry
£14 38
Research Machine 380Z
Symbols To Moles
31K
F
•
F
H4
Also on Apple II Practise using chemical symbols, writing & mole concept
Children
£37 89
Apple II
Bumble Plot
48K
•
•
•
P4
A set of five programs for developing graphics and maths skills For children 8 to 1 3
£29 84
Apple II
F
Face Hanger
48K
•
•
•
P4
Also on IBM PC Designed for children to learn computer keyboard by building up face
£37 89
Apple II
Gertrude s Secret
48K
•
•
•
P4
An educational game to teach logical thinking & planning For children aged 6-9
1 1
Machine
Operating
System
i
1
n
It
Media
Supplied
I
!
i
Hardware
Required
il
n
i
Cassette
1
I
1
2
I
1
£9 80
Atari 400
•
Jigsaw Puzzles
16K
T4
Also on Atari 800 Has 16 puzzles and optional difficulty
£11 40
BBC Model B
L aNara
32K
C9
Designed for children aged 4-6 & for dyslexic & remedial children
£11 40
BBC Model B
•
Metrics
32K
C9
Also on Vic-20. Vocabulary and structure of metric system, for children aged 10-15
£6 84
BBC Model B
•
Pascal
32K
C9
Also on Vic-20 Shows construction of Pascal Triangle and tests on it.
£6 84
BBC Model B
•
Sequences
32K
C9
Also on Vic-20 Demonstrates number patterns
£6 50
BBC Model B
The Early Stages
32K
H3
Reading aid Plays nursery rhymes Available on disk
£450
BBC Model B
Super Hangman
32K
14
Version of famous game High resolution graphics 800 words or enter own choice
£9 95
BBC Model B
Tree ol Knowledge
32K
A9
Interactive program teaching categorisation Simplified information retrieval.
£495
Sharp MZ80A
•
Giant Maths
32K
S8
Also on MZ80K Big screen figures & humorous error messages 5 to 1 1 years
£4 95
Sharp MZ80A
"#1
Rocket
3K
S8
Also on MZ80A Four difficulty levels For five to 1 1 year olds
£9 20
Sharp MZ80A
•
Teach Tables
48K
K3
Also on MZ80K Plays like game but motivates children to improve their ability
£4 95
Sharp MZ80K
•
Master Builder
48K
S8
Also on MZ80A Repair a wall using random blocks Teaches spacing
Classroom Monitor
£322 00
UCSD-P
•
Classroom Monitor
64K
T
•
K4
Also on Apple II Provides demonstration facilities & monitors student s progress
Economics
£28 75
Sharp MZ80K
•
Broadwater Economics Simulation
16K
W1
Also on Commodore Pet & BBC Simulates micro & macro economics
French
£1438
Research Machine 380Z
•
Repondez
31K
V
•
H4
Also on Apple II Practising French verb formation (present tense)
£9 20
Sharp MZ80A
•
French Conjugate
48K
K1
Also on MZ80K Automatically conjugates regular verbs into tenses
£9 20
Sharp MZ80A
•
French Verbs
48K
K1
Also on MZ80K. Allows user to impart up to 20 verbs & eight tenses at a time
Graphics
£8 00
BBC Model B
•
Painter
32K
A5
Also on Spectrum (£5.75). Atom (£6 90) & on disk
£9 95
BBC Model B
Creative Graphics
16K
A9
Book available (£7 50) Designed to illustrate BBC graphics
History
£20 13
Sharp MZ80A
•
Kings & Queens
48K
K1
Also on MZ80K Facts & figures on English monarchs since 1066
Languages
£7 95
Sharp MZ80A
•
Multilinguist
3K
S8
Also on MZ80K A language tutor to suit all European languages
Mathematics
£10 30
BBC Model B
Angle
32K
C9
Includes four programes designed to teach simple geometry
£9 95
BBC Model A
•
Algerbraic Manipulations
16K
W1
Also on Model B Includes four programs designed for use in maths teaching
£82 80
IBM PC
Fact Track
64K
V
•
13
Learning basic arithmetic Presents simple two-line sums in random order
£46 00
Sharp MZ80A
Curve Fitting
48K
K3
Also on MZ80K Calculates, intercepts & plots power curve
£9 20
Sharp MZ80A
Directed Numbers
48K
K3
Also on MZ80K Teaches difficult mathematical functions
£9 20
Sharp MZ80A
V
Divisor Advisor
48K
K3
Also on MZ80K Teaches division at a variety of skill levels
£27 60
Sharp MZ80A
•
Numerical Integration
48K
K3
Also on MZ80K & B Teaches Simpson s Rule
Meteorology
£23 00
Research Machines 380Z
•
Weather
31K
•
H4
Also on Apple II Gives synoptic charts Teaches elementary meteorology
Morse Code
£9 20
Sharp MZ80A
•
Morse Tutor
48K
K3
Also on MZ80K Used to teach morse code by sight and sound At seven levels
Physics
£1438
Research Machines 380Z
•
Lenses
31K
if
H4
Also on Apple II Illustrates formation of images by lenses using ray diagrams
£9 20
Sharp MZ80A
V
Casino Chips
48K
K3
Also on MZ80K Uses radioactive chips to teach half-life concept
Typing
£2875
CP M
•
TouchnGo
48K
V
•“
C6
Also on MS-DOS Typing tutor for mastering numeric pad & Qwerty keyboard
£31 05
IBM PC
Typing Tutor
64K
□
•
r i3 i
Presents exercises for learning touch typing or for improving existing skills
GAMES
Adventure
£17.95
Atari | •
Arrow of Death
16K
•
•
C8
Also runs on TRS-80. BBC. Vic-20 A classic text adventure
£7 99
BBC Model B
•
Adventure
16K
•
•
M7
Also runs on Atom Many rooms to explore and many hazards to overcome
£9 95
BBC Model B
Philosopher s Quest
16K
•
•
W1
Progress through a world of fiendish puzzles
£9 95
BBC Model B
Sphinx
16K
•
•
W1
A classic adventure, moving through caves avoiding hazards to collect treasure
£1380
Commodore Pet
V
Hitch-Hikers Guide to the Galaxy
32K
•
•
S5
Also runs on Commodore 64. Vic-20. 3000. 4000, 8000 Invoiced, textual game
£1840
Commodore Pet
Pythonesque
32K
•
•1
S5
Increasingly difficult textual game based on Monty Python Disk available (£20 12)
£24 99
Commodore Vic-20
River Rescue
8K
•
•
T4
Needs joystick Captain boat through treacherous rivers to rescue explorers
£8 00
Dragon 32
Escape
32K
•
•
[•
M16
Needs joystick A 3D maze game. Get clues from 1 5 rooms for code of elevator
£8 00
Dragon 32
Flipper
32K
•
•
M16
A game of intrigue and strategy Requires an agile mind and a lot of fore-thought
£8 00
Dragon 32
Mansion Adventure
32K
•
•
M16
Wind your way through an old mansion picking up clues to find the diamond .
£7 95
Dragon 32
Wizard War
32K
•
•
S7
Needs joystick Magical combat for two to nine players; interactive duel
£35 00
IBM PC
Adventure in Serema
64K
•
13
Needs colour graphics adaptor and direct drive colour monitor for use
£6.90
One
•“
Zodiac
16K
•
•
A5
Also runs on Atom A thinking persons adventure game
£1207
Sharp MZ80A
V
Adventure
48K
•
•
K1
Also runs on Sharp MZ80B and MZ80K An interactive adventure game
£1207
Sharp MZ80A
Quest
48K
•
•
K1
Also runs on Sharp MZ80B and MZ80K Dungeons & Dragons type game
£7 95
Sharp MZ80K
•
Nightmare Park
48K
•
•
S8
Also runs on MZ80A Cross Nightmare Park Every few steps play game or task
£7.95
Sharp MZ80K
•
Tombs of Karnak
48K
•
•
S8
Also runs on MZ80A Bargain for items required before entering tombs
£6.50
Spectrum
Destroyer
16K
•
•
15
Destroy the varying alien invaders
£5 95
Spectrum
Faust Folly
16K
•
•
A6
A 16K adventure with the same traps, magic, fiends, treasure as the 48K game
£1495
Spectrum
The Hobbit
48K
•
•
M8
Object is to get treasure For one player Can instruct computer in ordinary English
£5.00
Spectrum
•
Orb
16K
•
•
15
Also runs on Dragon 32 and Commodore Vic-20 Explore labyrinth and destroy Orb
£1000
Spectrum
•
Pimama
48K
•
•
A7
Also runs on Sinclair ZX81 . BBC 1 3. Dragon 32 Reviewed 1 8 3 83
£5 00
Spectrum
•
The Quest
48K
•
•
15
Also runs on Dragon 32 Fighting adventure game
£5 00
Spectrum
•
Star Trek
48K
•
•
•
15
Also runs on Dragon 32 and Commodore Vic-20 Hunt down the Klingon in space
£595
Spectrum
Slippery Sid
16K
•
•
•
•
S9
Needs joystic and keyboard to use Snake type game
£1006
Tandy TRS-80 1
•
Mysterious Adventurer
16K
•
•
M6
Also runs on Tandy TRS-80 III. Genie 1. II. Colour Genie and BBC B
£3 95
Texas Instruments 99 4 A
Chalice of Kalmar
16K
•
•
A8
The aim is to retrieve a chalice from a temple
£4 95
Texas Instruments 99 4 A
Forbidden City
16K
•
•
A8
You have to explore a deserted alien city with many hazards on the way
£3 95
Texas Instruments 99 4 A
Sorcerers Castle
16K
•
•
A8
You are trying to rescue the captured princess
£7.50
BBC Model B
Atlantis
32K
•
•
14
Guide submarine through caverns & destroy enemy
Arcade Game
£9 99
Commodore Vic-20
Night Crawler
5K
•
•
R2
A Centipede style game Fast action, graphics and sound effects
£5 50
Spectrum
•
Arcadia
16K
•
•
16
Also on Commodore Vic-20 12 levels of aliens attacking in different ways
£595
Spectrum
Ground Attack
16K
•
•
S9
Variable speeds allows this game to be played by everyone
£5 95
Spectrum
Orbiter
16K
•
•
S9
The only version of this Defender style game that is available for the Spectrum
£595
Spectrum
Cyber Rats
16K
•
•
•
•
S9
Needs joystick and keyboard to run.
Asteroids Type
£4 95
Spectrum
Meteor Storm
16K
•
01
Progressive difficulty, variety of controls
£6 95
Spectrum
Time-Gate
48K
•
•
01
Time travel. 3D graphics, colour, cockpit view and instrument display
£495
ZX81
Asteroids
4K
•
•
S9
Fast moving, suitable for all ages
Centipede Game
£7.99
Dragon 32
Caterpillar
32K
•
•
•
M16
A new generation munching game
Chess Game
£7 99
BBC Model B
Chess
16K
•
•
M7
Machine code, high resolution graphics with many play options
£24 95
Dragon 32
Cyrus Chess
32K
r #
D3
Won European microcomputer chess championship 1981 Nine levels of difficulty
£1450
Sharp MZ80A
•
Chess
48K
•
•
K1
Also on Sharp MZ80B & MZ80K 1 4 levels of difficulty
£4295
Texas Instruments 99 4A
Chess
16K
•
•
T5
Different difficulty levels Will solve problems Can teach chess
Darts
£1999
Atari 400
•
Darts
8K
•
•
T4
Also on 800 Aim & throw — the computer does the arithmetic
Defender Type
£22 80
Atari 400 800
•
Submarine Commander
16K
•
•
T4
One player Nine levels of difficulty Destroy shipping Oxygen levels, fuel etc
£9 95
BBC Model B
Planetoid
32K
•
•
A9
A game of speed & skill Available on floppy disk (£1 1 50)
£7 95
Commodore Vic-20
Alien Blitz
5K
•
•
•
A3
Needs joystick to run Difficulty levels, colour & sound
£9 99
Commodore Vic-20
Anmhilator
3K
•
•
•
R2
Based on Defender
£6 95
Spectrum
Penetrator
48K
•
•
M8
Two levels of difficulty difficulty
£21 95
TI99 4A
Parsec
16K
•
•
T5
Increasingly difficult After four onslaughts pass through to next stage
Flight Simulator
£22 80
Atari 400
•
Jumbo Jet Pilot
16K
•
•
T4
Also Atari 800 Ten difficulty levels View through cockpit with flight instrumentation
£7 95
Spectrum
•
Flight Simulation
48K
•
•
S10
Also on ZX81 (£5 95) Shows control panel & control view
£17 20
Tandy TRS-80
•
Jumbo
16K
•
•
M6
Also on Genie 1. II & BBC Model B Simulation of piloting a Jumbo
£3 95
Texas Instruments 99 4 A
Bomber
16K
•
•
A8
Also available on disk Must land plane & bomb skyscrapers
Football
£29 99
Atari 400
•
Kick Back
8K
•
•
T4
Also available on Atari 800 Needs joystick to run Beat the high score
£1955
Atari 400
•
Soccer
8K
•
T4
Also on Atari 800 Aerial view of field Reviewed 1 1 .3 83
Frogger Type
£5.50
Commodore Vic-20
Wacky Waiters
35K
•
16
Waiter serving drinks in hotel Has to hop from lift to lift
£9 99
Commodore Vic-20
Hopper
3K
•
•
•
R2
A version of Frogger
£5 95
Spectrum
Horace Goes Ski-ing
16K
•
•
S10
Sequel to Hungry Horace He must cross busy road, fetch skis & ski down slope
Golf
£7 95
Dragon 32
Golf
32K
•
•
S7
For one or two players Full handicapping system
£375
Spectrum
Golf
16K
•
•
•
R3
For one or two players Choice of nine or 13 holes
£3 75
Sinclair ZX81
Golf
16K
•
•
•
R3
Similar to other golf games, in black and white
Helicopter
£24 95
Commodore Vic-20
•
Chop Lifter
8K
•
•
•
A3
Also on Commodore 64 Needs joystick to run. Vic version of USA s best-seller
Jigsaw
£1499
Atari 400
•
British Heritage Jigsaw Puzzle
8K
•
T4
Also on Atari 800 Educational game with selective difficulty
Kong Type
£7 95
Commodore Vic-20
Bonzo
8K
•
•
•
A3
Workman dodges robots on split-level Sound & full graphics
£8 00
Dragon 32
Donkey King
32K
•
•
•
M16
Popular arcade game
£9 95
BBC Model B
Monsters
•
•
W1
The player has to run up & down ladders & along walls, pursued by monsters
Maze Type
£2495
Dragon 32
Ghost Attack
N/A
•
•
D3
The aim is to avoid & eliminate ghosts which roam a maze
£595
Spectrum
Hungry Horace
16K
•
•
S10
Animated maze game with sound & full graphics
£5 95
Spectrum
Muncher
16K
•
•
S9
A monster munching marathon
Pnce
inc vat
Machine
Operating
System
Other versions I
Media
Supplied
i'
Hardware 1
Required |
fi
n
Comments
H
1
1
s
!
i
1
2
I
l
£8 00
Spectrum
Spectres
16K
B3
An increasingly difficult maze game The object is to fit light bulbs & destroy ghosts
£1000
Sinclair ZX81
Mazogs
16K
B3
Three levels. Find & collect treasure in a maze & escape
Miscellaneous
£29 95
Atari 400
•
Picnic Paranoia
16K
C8
Also on Atari 800 Needs joystick to run A graphics game based on picnic site
£495
Colour Genie
Breakout
16K
M9
Different levels of skill
£6 95
Commodore Vic-20
Amok
5K
A3
Chased by robots in enclosed room Different levels of difficulty
£9 95
Commodore Vic-20
Black Squid
3K
C8
Get men to shore in shortest time
£24 99
Commodore Vic-20
Mutant Herd
8K
•r
•
T4
Protect a powerhouse from mutants Enter their burrows & destroy eggs
£6 90
Dragon 32
Dead Wood
32K
A5
A game for all the family
Pacman Type
£9 95
BBC Model B
Snapper
16K
•
W1
Based on Pacman
£9 50
Colour Genie
Chomper
16K
K2
Based on Pacman
£8 00
Dragon 32
Jerusalem Adventure
32K
M16
Aim is to get treasure & avoid being eaten
£8 00
Dragon 32
Scarfman
32K
M16
Based on Pacman
£4 95
Spectrum
Gnasher
16K
R3
Joystick optional Based on Pacman using Beano characters
Pool
£8 50
BBC Model B
Billiards
32K
H3
Available on disk A game for all ages
Racing
£7 95
Dragon 32
Grand Prix
32K
]F
S7
For one or two players, features eight Grand Prix tracks & 10 levels of difficulty
£21 95
TI99 4A
Car Wars
16K
"•
T5
Race through maze whilst avoiding computer controlled car
Shooting
£29 95
Atari 400
•
Claim Jumper
16K
•
V
C8
Also on Atari 800 A two player shoot-out over gold nuggets & cash
£29 95
Atari 400
Shamus
16K
_•
C8
Player has to move through lair avoiding hazards
£6 84
BBC Model B
T
Invisible Man
32K
C9
Also on Commodore Vic-20 Aim is to shoot man who keeps disappearing
£9 99
Commodore Vic-20
Quacker
3K
T
R2
Aim is to shoot down ducks & rabbits on shooting gallery
£1995
Commodore Vic-20
V
Spiders of Mars
•
A3
Popular game for the Vic-20 Also on Commodore 64
£5 95
Spectrum
High Noon
16K
IF
A6
Clean up chaos & disorder in town
Space
£9 95
Dragon 32
Dragon Trek
32K
S7
A version of Star Trek with ten levels of difficulty
£5 95
Spectrum
Android Run
16K
•
A6
Control android to shoot walls, kill mutants & reach central complex
£5 95
Spectrum
Cosmos
16K
A6
Defend space convoy from aliens & asteroids
£5 50
Spectrum
Schizoids
16K
16
Space bull-dozer nudges shapes into black hole
£495
Spectrum
V
Star Trek
48K
R3
Also on ZX81 (£3.95) One player, sound & full colour graphics strategy game
Space Invader Type
£7 99
BBC Model B
Swoop
32K
M7
Written in machine code with full colour & high resolution graphics
£7 50
BBC Model B
Model B Invaders
32K
14
A Space Invaders game with high resolution & colour graphics
£9 99
Commodore Vic-20
Orbis
3K
jF
R2
Based on Missile Command Fast & colour
£1995
Dragon 32
Cosmic Invaders
N A
D3
Joystick optional 15 levels of difficulty
£495
Spectrum
Intruders
16K
Q1
Includes mutants, random saucers, bonus base & 1 4 different aliens Sound & colour
£5 00
Spectrum
Spectral Invaders
16K
B3
For one or two players Increasingly difficult, high resolution colour graphics
£21 95
TI99 4A
Invaders
16K
T5
Based on Space Invaders After every two screens a new character appears
£3 95
Sinclair ZX81
Invaders
4K
S9
Based on Space Invaders
Sport
£33 35
IBM PC
Decathlon
64K
T
<F
13
Needs colour graphics adaptor & direct drive colour monitor For up to six players
Variety
£5 95
Commodore Vic-20
Innovation Cassette
48K
M8
Three tapes each containing seven games
£595
Spectrum
Over the Spectrum
16K
| M8 | Three tapes each with 1 0 games Defender to geometry, beginners to advanced |
1 HOME
Sports and Clubs
£78 00
Sharp MZ80A
Clubman
48K
•
•
S8
Golf handicapping and competition results system complying with 1983 regulations
£575 00
Apple II
|F
Tabs Golf Package
48K
•
T3
AlsomonMS DOS(64K) Maintains members handicaps including 1 983 regulations.
£28 18
Epson HX20
•
Horse Race Forecast
48K
•
K9
Also on Newbram and Sharp A punters aid to betting
£28 69
Sharp MZ80A
•
Navex
48K
•
K9
Also on MZ80K Simulations of navigating a yacht on the English Channel
Home
£1999
Atari 400
Home Financial Management
“™8K
T4
Also on Atari 800 Needs Atari Basic cartridge Aids money management
£9 95
BBC Model A
*•
Desk Diary
16K
W1
Also on BBC Model B Consists of address book & diary planner (plus instructions).
£24 99
Commodore Vic-20
Vic Music Composer
8K
14
Aids to aspiring composer. Also for entertainment and education
£1995
Epson HX20
•
Home Budget
16K
•
' K1
Also on Sharp. MZ80 & Osborne Keeps records of home finances with graphics.
£1495
Sharp MZ80A
•
Sam Analysis
3K
' •
" S8
Designed for balancing home debits & credits
£1000
Spectrum
Spec File
48K
•
' A5
Stock control program useful in home, e g record collection, etc
Miscellaneous
£1295
Commodore Vic-20
Home Office
5K
•
1 A3
Comprises VicPro (word processor) & VicData (A database program)
1 UTILITIES 1 1
Basic
E201 25
CP M
Basic 80
48K
•
•
LI
Industry standard Basic
£235 70
CP M
Basic Compiler
48K
•
•
LI
Companion to Basic 80 Allows programs to run faster
£80 50
CP M
BDS C Compiler
48K
•
•
LI
A subset of C that enables its implementation Includes symbolic debuggers
£121 90
CP M
•
C Basic
64K
[j
•
XI
Commercial Basic Also on CP M86 (£265 65)
£213
Any Z80
X-Basic
48K
•
XI
Built-in matrix functions Supports MP M record locking Graphics option
Basic Upgrader
74 75
Commodore 64
•
VicTree
64K
•
¥
S5
Also Commodore Vic-20 Also on floppy (£92 00) Adds 50 commands to Basic
Business Graphics
£471 50
16-bit machines
Micro-Graphpower
128K
¥
¥
12
Needs plotter Business graphics which plots business data
£120 75
Apple III
•
Business Graphics
48K
•
P6
Also on Apple II (£125.35) Supports range of plotters & pie-charts, etc
£14950
IBM PC
•
Graph Magic
96K
•
•
FI
Also on Apple II, III Displays files graphically Reviewed 18 3 83
Card Index System
£21505
Apple II
•
Visidex
48K
•
V
R1
Also on IBM PC Needs printer One record screen designed for cross referencing
£178 25
CP M
•
Cardbox
48K
¥
•
•
C6
Also on MS-DOS Needs 24 x 80 VDU & 1 00K disk storage
Communications
£102 35
Apple II
ASCII Express — The Professional
48K
•
•
•
P4
Needs RS232 Asynchronous serial communications package
£448 50
Apple II
Editel
48K
•
•
01
Needs modem A Viewdata frame word processor designed to aid data editing
£626 75
Apple II
Owlsync 3780
48K
•
•
01
A full IBM 3780 emulator package allowing communication up to 2400 Baud
£454 25
Apple II
Owltel
48K
•
•
¥
01
Needs modem Allows access to Prestel & private viewdata systems
£14950
Apple II
•
Terminal Utilities
48K
•
•
Cl
Also on Apple HE. Converts Apple II to intelligent terminal Speeds of up to 9600 BPS
£57 50
CP M
Xcopy 1 .0
64K
•
•
XI
Disk copy utility for Cromemco machines Copies 8 or 5VV single double sided
£454 25
CP M
•
Micro-Linkline
64K
•
•
12
Also on UCSD-P Teletype comms for transferring datafiles
£575
CP M
•
Bisync AC-3780
64K
•
•
E9
AlsoonMP M&CP M86 MicrotomainframecommsthroughlBMtermmalemulation
£41 40
IBM PC
Asynchronous Communications
64K
•
¥
13
Needs asynchronous comms adaptor Makes PC act as asyncs comms terminal
£117.30
IBM PC
IBM 3101 Emulation Program
64K
•
13
Makes PC act as 3101 terminal provides 3270 emulations when connected to host
£638 25
IBM PC
PC SNA 3270 Emulation
128K
¥
¥
13
Needs SDLL adaptor card makes PC act as IBM 3270 terminal
£22 43
Sharp MZ80A
•
Zen
48K
•
¥
K1
Also MZ80K & B Full Z80 editor assembler
Connector
£11500
IBM PC
•
Interlink
48K
•
T2
Also on Sirius. Apple II. Xerox. Osborne etc Connects processors for downloading
Database
£132 25
Apple II
DB Master
48K
•
M5
Available on hard disk Allows 1 K records over 1 00 fields Report generation, etc
£22425
Apple II
Informex Database System
48K
•
11
Database system which can be used to & update info on any type of record
£402 50
Apple II
•
Mailist
48K
•
•
A4
Also for IBM PC & Corvus Concept Requires hard disk A networking product
£96 60
Apple III
•
PFS: File
48K
•
P6
Also for Apple II (£135.70) Used in tandem with PFS (£96 60)
£215.05
Apple II
•
VisiFile
48K
•
R1
Also on IBM PC (£273 70; 64K) A database program suitable for up to 500 entries
£21735
Apple ME
VisiTrend + VisiPlot
64K
•
R6
Also for CP M Graphic representation of data Compatible with VisiCalc
£10 30
BBC Model B
Filer
16K
¥
M7
Allows searching, sorting, saving & recovery of data
£201 25
CP M
•
Dataflow II
56K
¥
G1
Also on CP M 86 Needs 160K disk space Extract files to link with other systems
£201 25
CP M
Datastaff
64K
•
XI
Data entry & retrieval system Interfaces with WordStar
£499 74
CP M
dBase II
48K
•
El
Micro DBMS Can be used for high level programming for a range of applications
£557 50
CP M
Superfile
56K
•
S4
Multi-file database giving application package information.
£166 75
CP M
Supersort 116
64K
M10
A sort utility for handling various forms of data files Mainframe-like additions
£1.840
CP M
•
MDBS II
64K
T2
AlsoonCPIM86. MS-DOS. Turbo DOS. Unix and Xenix Mainframe — like facilities
£6842
Newbrain
Invoice & Credit Program
32K
•
E2
The invoice program allows you to put in your own information and design invoice
£29 32
Newbrain
Database 40 S
32K
•
E2
Information gatherer, stores large quantity of information & can be interrogated at will
Debugger
£258 75
CP M
«T
Animator
64K
¥
Mil
Also on UNIX & MS100S. interactive source level debugging tool for CIS-cobol
File Transfer
£132 25
CPM
Bstam
16K
•
•
LI
Needs common interface ports or modem access Utility for transfering CP M files
Graphics
£34 50
Apple II
¥
Graphic Utilities
48K
•
Cl
Also for Apple ME Parameter driven machine code programs high res graphics
£24 95
Atari
Constructor
48K
¥
C8
Less experienced & new programmers can design animated sequences
£9 95
BBC Model A
V
Creative Graphics
16K
¥
W1
Also for BBC model B 30 programs on cassette produce range of pictures & patterns
£24 95
BBC Model B
EDG Graphics Package
32K
•
S7
Computer aided design package Reviewed 1 1 .3.83.
£50 60
CP M
CP M Graphics
64K
¥
D4
Range goes up to £421 70 & conforms to GKS Graphics Standard
Language
£488 75
CP M
T
CIS Cobol
64K
•
Mil
Also on Unix Compact, interactive ANSI 74 standard implementation of Cobol
£1.10975
CP M
_•
Level II Cobol
96K
•
Mil
Also on Unix & MS-DOS High level ANSI 74 Compiler, mamframe-compat code
£396 00
CPM
Fortran 80
48K
•
T2
Useful for scientific applications, where Pascal is inefficient
£285.20
CPM
T
Pascal — MT +
64K
•
XI
ANSI standard Pascal for Z80 processors Also on CP M 86 (£484-90)
£210
CP/M
•
Supersoft C Compiler
48K
M4
Also on CP M86, MS DOS. PC DOS Fast implementation of C.
£1685
BBC Model A
•
Lisp on the BBC
16K
T
W1
Also on BBC Model B Book available £7.50. Lisp is artifical intelligence languaqe.
£230 00
CPM
•
PROPascal
48K
¥
El
Also on C DOS Needs ZX200 disk drives. Native code Pascal
£40 19
Sharp MZ80A
Forth
N A
T
K1
Also on MZ80K & Osborne Allows implementation of full fig Forth.
£421.70
Any 8 or 1 6 bit machine
PL1
48K
_
¥
__
D4
A compact implementation based on Ansi standard general purpose subset of PL 1
IBM £2,401
How does the world’s biggest selling micro compare with the world’s
biggest computer company’s micro? The no-holds-barred test in this month's
Which Micro & S o ftware Review reveals some surprises. As a home
computer the ZX81 is not only easier to use and program - it actually rivals the
IBM on operational speed for some applications.
Which Micro & So ft ware Review's side-by-side tests reveal other
surprises too. Would you have thought that the Cambridge Lynx would slay
the Welsh Dragon 32? Better read the test
We also line up the ageing VIC 20 against the upstart Oric I. A real clash!
Our software supplement reviews a stack of new programs-games,
educational and business. And our listings are designed to move you off the
KO
PCN MAR25.1983
FAIR
COMPARISON?
S&5E2*
affifirr
GRfi/>
nursery slopes of programming and into areas with a touch of sophistication
using time-savers like letter variables and character n/ir ?»
statements. I pi iHlQH V*
If you want some quick fun, there are five new
programs on a free disc with every copy of the April & SOFTWARE REVIEW
issue. They’d run on ZX81, Spectrum, BBC, Vic 20 nr — r
and PET You really can't afford to miss April's
Which Micro & Software Review
WHEN WE TEST A MICRO
ITSTAYSTESTED.
QEQmkto
ZX81 £49.95
CN MAR25. 1983
Pnc*
inc vat
Ifi
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II
Media
Supplied
i
Hardware
Required
PuWtsher
Distributor
Comments
1
1
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1
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I
£350 75
IBM PC
•
Lattice-C
64K
•
•
LI
Also on MS DOS C Compiler for 16 bit machines— full implementation & execution
Linker
£224 25
CP M
Plink 2
48K
•
•
LI
Up to 8 megabytes
Office Information
£402 50
Apple II
•
Prophet II
48K
•
•
A4
El
Also on IBM PC & Corvus Concept Information system which acts as a noticeboard
Works by putting CP M to sleep & replacing it with operating environment
Operations
£59 80
CPM
Operating Guide
48K
•
•
Operating system
£22 94
Apple ll
Fasdos
48K
•
•
P4
Disk operating system for Apples which speeds up location of binary & Applesoft files
£277
CP M
Concurrent CP M 86
48K
•
T2
Enables four separate tasks to run in a single user station
£295 20
Any 8-bit micro
CPM-t-
128K
•
D4
Upward compatible from CP M enhanced eight-bit micro. O S
£126 50
Any 8-bit micro
CPM 2.2
64K
•
D4
O S for eight-bit micros with over 1 .5 million users
£379 50
Any 8-bit micro
MPM
64K
•
D4
Multiuser, multitasking Features record & file locking, date & time stamping etc
£21080
Any 16-bit micro
CP M 86
64K
•
D4
Manages up to one megabyte of RAM & allows up to 1 28 megabytes of on-line storage
£548 20
Any 16-bit micro
MPM 86
64K
•
D4
Multi-user Multi-tasking Multi-user capability with multi-programming for each user
£168 70
Any 8 or 1 6 bit machine
CP Net
64K
•
D4
A CP M compatible O S designed to access Local & networked resources
£295 20
Motorola MC68000
CPM 68K
64K
•
D4
Extends CP M to Motorola MC6800 microprocessors Single user, single tasking
Program Generator
£228 85
Apple II
•
Quickcode
64K
•
•
P4
Also on IBM PC Program generator for dBase II
£126 50
CPM
•
Forms-2
64K
•
•
Mil
Also for Unix & MS-DOS Programming tool, for generating Cobol code.
£379 50
CP M
•
Last One
64K
•
•
S3
Also on MS-DOS and Apple DOS
Programming Tool
£2.500
Apple II
•
Pascal Isam Pascal Form
48K
•
•
A4
Also on IBM PC & Corvus Concept Needs Corvus hard disk Pascal prog tool
£287 50
CPM
•
Fileshare
48K
•
•
Mil
Also on MP M Bank-switched memory or CP M Network
£7 95
Dragon 32
Dragon Selection 2
32K
•
D3
Four utility programs which can be listed to see how the program works.
Telex
£2.113 70
Superbrain
•
Micro Telex
64K
•
•
El
Also on Televideo 802 Enables automatic sending — releivmg or telex by micro
Testing Tool
£95 82
CPM 80
•
Diagnostics II
32K
•
•
M4
Also on CP M86 and MS DOS Tests systems
Time Recording
£862 50
Commodore 8000
•
Minuteman
32K
•
C4
Also on Commodore 4000 Time recording system Can produce range or reports
£402 50
CP M86
•
Time Recording System
64K
•
•
D2
Also on CP M 80 Control overman hour expenditure by job or account number
Utilities
£23 00
Apple II
•
Computech Utilities Disk II
48K
•
•
Cl
Also on Apple ME. Error checking, copying Single disk copy Label disk
I El 15.00
IBM PC
C-Food Smorgasbord
64K
•
•
LI
Decimal arithmetic, low level & terminal independent input & output
B?
A Al ACT Pulsar, 021-454 8585 A2 Advanced Quality Software. Norwich 21 1 1 7 A3 Audiogenic. Reading 595647 A4 Atlantic
Software. Nottingham 412777 A5 A & F Software 061-223 6206 A6 Abbex Electronics. 01-203 1465 A7 Automata UK
Portsmouth 735242 AS Apex Trading. Brighton 36894 A9 Acornsoft. Cambridge 316039 A10 Advent Data Products. Melksham
706289 A1 1 Appropriate Technology. 01 -625 5575
>B1 Bonsai. 01-580 0902 B2 Bristol Software Factory. Bristol 23430 B3 Bug-Byte. 051-227 2299 B4 Bytech Reading 61031 B5
‘“ntish Olivetti, 01-785 6666
C C1 Computech Systems. 01-794 0202 C2 Compact Accounting. Dorking 887373 C3 Claremont Controls. Rothbury 21081 C4
Computer Services Midlands. 021-382 4171 C5 Comshare. 01-222 5665 C6Caxton Software. 01 -379 6502 C7 Cyderpress.
Wallingford 37769 C8 Channel 8 Software. Preston 53057 C9 Chalksoft. Wellington 71 1 7 CIO Centronics. 01 -581 1 01 1 CH
Commodore Business Machines. Slough 79292
ftDl Dataview. Colchester 869414 02 DEC. Basingstoke 59200 03 Dragon Data, Kenfig Hill 744700 04 Digital Research.
1/Newbury 35304 05 Discom, Evesham 3591 D6 Datatrade. Northampton 22289 07 DNCS. 061 -643 0016 08 DRG.
Weston-Super-Mare 415398 D9 Data Systems Division. Bedford 223889
^L1 Lifeboat. 01-836 9028
M M1 MMS. Bedford 40601 M2 Microsimplex, Macclesfield 615000 M3 McDowell Knaggs & Associates. Worcester 612261
M4 Micro Technology. Tunbridge Wells 45433 M5 Micromedia. 01-843 9457 M6 Molimerx. Bexhill-on-Sea 223636 M7
Micro Power. Leeds 683186 M8 Melbourne House. 01 -997 9160 M9 Mercury Software. Darwen 776677 M10 MicroPro. 01-499
5777 MU MicroFocus. Swindon 695891 M12 Mitshi & Co. 01-600 1777 M13 Modata. Tunbridge Wells 41555 M14 Mannesmann
Tally. Reading 78871 1 Ml 5 Micropute. Macclesfield 615384 M16 Microdeal. St Austell 67676
N1 Newbury Data Reading. Newbury 48864
N
0 °
H Owl Microcommunications. Bishops Stortford 723848 02 Omicron. 01 -636 6575
)P1 Peachtree Software International. Maidenhead 3271 1 P2 Padmede. Fleet 21892 P3 Pegasus. Kettering 522822 P4
Pete & Pam Computers. 01-769 1022 PS PE Consulting Group. Egham 3441 1 P6 Personal Computers. 01-377 1200
I Encotel Systems. 01 -686 9687 E2 Elstree Computer Centre. 01-953 6921 E3 Epson (UK). 01-900 0466
1 Ferrah. 01-751 5791 F2 Farmplan Computer Systems. Ross-on-Wye 64321
G1 Great Northern. Leeds 589980 G2 Graffcom Systems. 01-727 5561 G3 Geveke Electronics. Woking 26331
E E
F
G
H Hl Hilderbey. 01 -485 1059 H2 Hartford Software Northwich. 781 1 56 H3 H & H Software. Runcorn 65566 H4
Heinemann. 01-637 3311
1 11 Informex. 01-318 4213 12 Intelligence (UK). 01-543 371 1 13 IBM UK Product Services. Basingstoke 56144 14 UK Software.
Blackpool 21555 IS Impact Software. 031 -441 4257 16 Imagine Software. 051-236 6849 17 Intac Data Systems. Rotherham
547170 18 ITT Business Systems. Brighton 5071 1 1 19 ITT Consumer Products. Basildon 3040 110 Intelligent Interfaces.
Stratford-upon-Avon 296879
III Jarman Systems. Tring 6841 12 Jones & Brother. 061-330 6531
QQ1 Quicksilva. Southampton 20169 Q2 Qume (UK). Reading 584646
R R r
u
111
K1 Kuma Computers. Maidenhead 71778 K2 Kansas City Systems. Chesterfield 850357 K3 Knights. Aberdeen 630526 K4
Keen Computers. Nottingham 412777
1 Rapid Terminals. High Wycombe 26271 R2 Rabbit Software. 01-863 0833 R3 R & R Software. Gloucester 502819 R4
Rair, 01-836 6921 RS Riva Terminals. Woking 71001 R6 Rapid Recall. High Wycombe 356354
S SI Systematics International M' osystems. Haverhill 61 121 S2 SGS Software Products. 01-486 7498 S3 Silicon Valley Trade.
0 1-242 2807 S4 Southdata. 0 1-994 6477 S5 Supersoft. 01-861 1 166 S6 Seed. Brownhills 378151 S7 Salamander Brighton
771942 S8 Solo Software Worcester 424152 S9 Silversoft. 01-748 4125 S10 Sinclair Research. Cambridge 353204 SU Sintron
Electronics. Reading 875464 S12 Sord. 01-930 4214 S13 Systime. Leeds 70221 1 S14 Stotron. Coventry 613521
T U Tridata Micros. 021 -622 6085 T2 Tamsys. Windsor 56747 T3 Tabs. Andover 5893 T4 Thorn EMI. 01 -836 2444 T5 Texas
Instruments. Bedford 6321 1 T6 Triumph Adler. 01-250 1717T7 Tandy Company. Walsall 648181 T8 Technology For Business.
01-837 1271 T9 Toshiba Office International. Sunbury-on-Thames 785666
yywi John Wiley & Sons. Chichester 784531 W2 Walters Microsystems. High Wycombe 445175
y^Xl Xitan Systems. Southampton 33471 1 X2 X-Data. Slough 72331 Sygal Dynamics. Bicester 3361
PCN Biboard
Apple llcxpansion cards, as new.
boxed with instructions, colour
card. £50. Language card (16K
memory card) £60 with Integer
Basic and Pascal Videx 80-col
card £150. Tel: Bryan, Camber-
ley 0276 28366.
Atari 400 32K. Normally £60
extra. Atari recorder, basic
cartridge games including Star
Raiders, 4 joysticks, technical
manuals, magazines. Cost over
£500, only £395. Tel: Burgess
Hill 47017.
Sharp PC1211 and CE122 prin-
ter cassette interface plus all
manuals leads etc. As new
condition, including cases and
mainsadaptor. Tel: 01-8022439
affer 6.45pm, ask for Sammy.
Price £100 complete.
UK101 8K RAM. New monitor,
cased(Compshop). £95. Tel:
Redhill 67968 eve
VIC 20 C2N cassette unit. 16K
RAM pack. Jelly Monsters
cartridge, VIC revealed, joys-
tick. magazines and software.
Bought April 82, £200ono.Tel
01-876 9598 eve.
Video Genie 16K, 12in tv con-
verted for use. All monitor
leads and manuals £160 +
software and books including
Basic programming, games and
utilities all for only £280 ono.
Tel Kidlington 77488.
RML 380Z 20K. RAM several
Basics inc 51 D and TXED
S10-2 PIO/RTC board. COS3.4
Blue Box, W-keyboard. Good
condition. First offer above
£750 accepted. Tel 024 024
4141.
TRS80 16K level 2, £190 cash,
weeks old, genuine bargain, no
tricks. Tel Shaw 840677, ask for
Paul.
Gemini G809/G815 disk system
for Nascom 2, including CPM
2.2 and many utilities and
languages. Condition as new
(with 3 month guarantee) only
£600. Tel: Nigel on 024-361
4989.
VIC 20 computer + Commod-
ore cassette recorder. Still
boxed for only £140 (VAT
receipt supplied). Buyer col-
lects. Must sell. Tel 06286 2649
eve.
PET games for sale worth £200.
will accept £100 ono. Also sold
separately for £4, £6 (all Com-
modore). Tel East End 698 eve
only.
TI58, hardly used with Amer-
ican software books 4- all manu-
als etc. £40ono. Will also throw
inTI57free. Reason for selling,
have bought new system. Tel:
01-579 7130 after 7pm.
TRS80 Ul 16K VDU + £200 of
software inc Space Invaders.
Asteroids, Edtasm. All leads
and some micro-80 mags. Tel:
Brian, 01*002 9483 after 7pm.
Best offer accepted.
Sharp MZ-80K 48K, 12 months
old, 1 year guarantee remain-
ing. Various games and manu-
als inc. Will deliver within 30
miles of Slough. Must sell, £300
ono. Tel Burnham 06286 5981 .
Sharp MZ80K 48K complete with
Basic, manual and over 40
games £300. Tel Bradford
725973 evening only.
TRS-80 L 2 16K adventure
games. Two for the price of one.
Calico and Holy-Grail. Superb
value £3 cassette. Send cheque
to Michael Offen, 25 Sefton
Park Road, Liverpool. Tel 734
1229.
Acorn Atom 12K -I- 12K, Acorn
built, PSU, all leads, manual.
Magic book. Life cassette,
£140. Tel 01-767 2562(Balham)
Tandy LPVI printer, US model,
llOv, with dust cover, spare
ribbon and some paper, parallel
interface, 100 CPS paper up to
15in. Little used. £300 ono. Tel
Ascot (0990)21510.
Video Genie, 48K + Printer
Interface Unit, extended Basic
EPROM (not fitted). £600
worth of software, all manuals,
books on programming worth
£1000. Sell £450. Tel Leicester
(0533) 883309 after 6pm.
Acorn Atom 8K ROM, 4K utility
ROM, 12K RAM, heavy duty
PSU. Leads, manual, plus some
software ,£120. Tel Todmorden
5959.
PET 3032 computer and 3040
disk drive. Purchased April for
home educational purposes.
Redundancy now forces sale.
£975 ono. Tel Keith. Camber-
ley (0276)61484.
CBM8032 cassette power chip.
Petchess Cursor tapes etc.
Manuals + Osborne RS West
Schematics perfect order.
Home use only. £700 or very
near offer. Tel Folkestone
56469 anytime.
Vic 20 C2N, joystick, + super
expander, Sargon Chess,
Avenger and Adventure Land
cartridges. Vicmen, Frogger
and Myriad tapes. Worth over
£300, good con. will accept £230
ono. Tel: 0233 3837.
PET 4032 large screen, manu-
als, books, cassette and the
Amazing Arrow. All £425 ono.
Tel: 01-568 6466.
Teletext add-on adaptor suit any
television. New AYR model,
cordless remote control. Only
£149.95. Also Prestel adaptor
with microcomputer interface
option and telesoftware. Tel
Bristol 0272-502008.
Teleprinters I )ata Dynamics 390
with tape unit. RS232 interface,
se nsi b le offe rs . Te 1 0 1 -550 603 1 .
16K Spectrum, as new, £110.
Ferguson bigboard Z80 64K
£200 I fitachi 9in monitoi £70.
Larter ASCII keyboard with
case £35. Sinclair 10MHz oscil-
loscope £100. Tel Swanley
66260 evenings and weekend
only.
Spectrum 48K. boxed brand
new hardly used. Software in-
cluded. Scramble, Invaders,
Gulpman, Nightflite, Hobbit,
Timegate, Bomber, Cen-
tipede. Guaranteed. Cost £230,
sell for £200. Tel Rob 01-440
1635
BUY&SELLFREEADFORItl
I For your free PCN ad. fill in this form putting one word in each box allowing a maximum of 32 |
. words. Write in block capitals and don't forget to include your name and address, or telephone
1 number. But don't send any money . . . we offer this service to our private readers, free of charge.
| It's worth warning, however, that we absolutely will not include ads from companies, large or •
small. Also, we cannot guarantee to put any ad in a specific issue, but will work on a first come, first |
1 served basis. Reprints will be out of order too unless submitted on a separate form. Send your
| complete form to Personal Computer News, 62 Oxford Street, London W1A 2HG.
1
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PCN MAR25.1983
83
MICROSHOP
Rates: t 10 per single colunm cm. Series discount available Mechanical Data: Column width. 1 column 57mm. 2 columns 1 18mm.
3 columns 179 mm Publishing Dates: Every Friday. Copy Dates: 10 davs prior to publication. Contact:: Ian Whorley on 01-323
3211.
BUSINESS AND PLEASURE ON THE 64!
BUSICALC IS just me program for mose *no need to mogie vntft figures You could use 1 to plan your household finances or vour persona* tax — but it s
equally capable of handling much larger figures If you ve got a printer you'll be able to produce reports that are good enough to put before the board (or
the bank manager) — but a printer isn t necessary and nerther is a disk drive BUSICALC costs iust £39 plus VAT on tape or £40 50 on disk there are
versions at the same prices for the PET and VIC-20 (with 16k expansion)
MIKRO ASSEMBLER plugs into the cartridge port of the 64 As PET and VIC owners are already wen aware MIKRO makes writing machine code
programs almost as easy as Basic because it is a real assembler wtn LABELS To hejp you write your program MIKRO has AUTO. DELETE andEtNO
commands, to help you debug it there s a machine code monitor and you can DISASSEMBLE from Bas.c or m the monitor' The TABLE commands
displays or prints an alphabetically sorted symbol table after assembly — which is really fast (MIKRO w>n assemble 2k of code m iust 20 seconds) If you
are writing more than (say) 4k of code you may have to spirt your source code mto several tiles but MIKRO win automatically link these together at
assembly time loading them from tape or disk as appropriate The MIKRO module costs E50 plus VAT it coukJ be the best investment you ever make
With AR&0W installed m your 64 the Commodore cassette unit LOADS AND SAVES PROGRAMS SEVEN TIMES FASTER' Almost as fast as the 1541
disk mf»ct There is however a small difference m price — because ARROW costs iust £39 plus VAT ARROWhasitsownioadandsavecommands so
you can still load and save at normal speed if you should want to ARROW « a tried and tested product that we ve been selling on the PET for several
C rs, now 64 owners can also benefit
v for the lighter side of our range TANK AT AK . KAKTUS and MANGROVE are arcade games with colour and sound a joystick is recommended . but
is not essential They each cost £8 plus VAT on cassette or £9 50ond-sk THE HITCH-HIKERS GUIDE TO THE GALAXY s an adventure based (wtn the
kmd permission of Douglas Adams and Pan Books) on the characters and scenarios n the popular senes lfyoudrvidethepnceof£12ptusVAT(£l3 50
on disk) by the number of hours you'll spend exploring the galaxy the answer will be a very small number mdeed'
Cl I DC DC ACT Winchester House. Canning Road. Wealdstone. Harrow.
oDl UltdUri Middlesex HA3 7SJ. England. Telephone: 01-861 1166
r
TOPCHIP
PRESENTS
COSMIC ZAP
FOR 0 ( 3(3 MICRO
(REQUIRES 32K)
Fast, exciting, original game. Steer
your ship through an unfolding cosmic
corridor colliding with aliens and avoid-
ing deadly asteroids. Dock with mother
ship for extra bonus.
Status report shown after each dock-
ing. The game becomes progressively
more difficult and retains the top 8
scores with name entry. Excellent 16
colour graphics and sound.
£5.95 inc
Send cheques PO to:
TOPCHIP
34 Salehurst Road,
Ipswich, Suffolk IP3 8RY.
UNEXPANDED VIC-20
Space Storm £6 99 Scramble £9 99
Night Crawler £9 99 Space Phreeks £9 99
Big Screen Invaders £4 Asteriods £7
Naval Attack £5
Big Screen Asteriods £4
Astro Sled and Space Fighter £7
And nod Attack £5 Space Hopper £5
FOR ANY VIC- Arcadia £5.50
Vic + 3K— Frogger £9 99
Vic + 3K— Myriad £9 99
SPECTRUM
3D Maze of Gold £5 95 Spectres £7
Bear Island £3 95 Krazy Kong £5
Meteroids £4 95 3D Tanx £4 95
Centipede £4 95 Time Gate (48K) £ 6 95
The Chess Player (48K) £ 6 95
Speakeasy (48K) £4 95
Space Intruders £4 95 8 Games Pack £5
Meteor Storm £4 95 Orbiter £5 95
Ground Attack £5 95 Mongoose £3 95
ALL PRICES INCLUDE POST A PACKING -
OVERSEAS ORDERS PLEASE ADD 65p PAP AND
YOU MAY PAY BY STERLING MONE Y ORDER (FROM
YOUR BANK) OR YOUR OWN U S 5 CHEQUE ALL
CUSTOMERS MA Y DEDUCT THE FOLLOWING
DISCOUNTS ORDERS C10-C19 99. 5°o C20-C29 99:
- f30 and over - 10 %. ALL ORDERS DEAL T
WITH ON DAY OF RECEIPT VIC HARDWARE EG
Vic 20* Cassette Deck - Joystick ONL YC1BO (plus
C3 50 pp .) Full lists on application
SOFTWARE HOUSES please send us your samples
BYTEWELL,
203. Court Rd.. Barry. S. Glam.
Tel: (0446) 742491.
EDUCATIONAL PROGRAMS
FOR THE BBC MODEL B (32K)
GEOGRAPHY ITALY — colour graphics
mountains, rivers, cities etc tests
GEOGRAPHY - FRANCE - colour graphics
mountains, rivers, cities etc tests
MATHS - TRANSLATIONS - colour diagrams
explanations, calculations, etc tests
lor iim: by teacher tor class instruction
OR by student tor individual learning
CORONA (SOFTWARE)
21 Tennyson Avenue. London El 1 2QN
TRS-80 L2 GENIE SOFTWARE (16K)
Cassette 1 Space Invaders (me). Mastermind (finds your
code m seconds). AppoHo(mc). Machine code copier.
Defuse and Rate
ALL SIX PROGRAMS ON ONE CASSETTE FOR C4.75
Cassette 2: Space Defender A fast professional quality
m e game in graphics with a top 10 ladder continuous
display of Score etc A fast, real time, action packed game
Apollo 7 An exciting me game with sound effects and
&OTHPROGRAMS ON ONE CASSETTE FOR C4.7S
Each cassette costs £4.75(or both for C9)trom K. Meeran.
32 Llsmore Road. S. Croydon. Surrey CR27QA.
SPECTRUM — TRS80 LV2
VIDEO GENI E SOFTWARE
CLMJlbuk-,i
•^r-'V^y-Tryvi!
25 SUPER PROGRAMS Machine code arcade games
Simulations, competitive games, adventures. Dungeons &
Dragons, puzzles A ball games, including Breakout (the
real thing — takes you through nine levels of increasing
difficulty^. Star Wars. Amazing 3D mazes. Gi
machine. Corridors of Doom & Trap It. All 25 on one
increasing
“iambling
, one C48
cassette Sent by return Post for onfy £6 95 me., or send
sae
For full details
Programmers:— 25% royalties paid on original Software
for the Spectrum. TRS 80 or Genie
SPARTAN SOFTWARE (Dept. PCN)
9. COTSWOLD TERRACE.
CHIPPING NORTON. OXON.
Tel: 0608-3059
WANTED URGENTLY
Arcade-type games programs for Spectrum. ZX81 .
Vic20. One. Dragon. BBC Micro and Lynx
We pay lop royalties or buy your copyright lor cash
National mail order and dealer sales ensure you get the
best reward for your genius
Write or caU mto
NORTHWISH LTD
THE GROUND FLOOR. RALLI BUILDINGS. STANLEY
STREET. MANCHESTER M3 5FD
or Tel 061-832 9143
BBC32K BBC32K
FOR YOUNG CHIL0REN (1-6 YRS)
“A First Book of Micro-Rhymes”
5 traditional nursery rhymes
See the words — Hear the tunes
Watch the moving pictures
Listen to the sound effects
only £4 95(inc) from
Peter Gordon. 20 Despard Road. London N19 5NW
START THEM YOUNG!!
VIC SOFTWARE HIRE
Are you a Vic 20 owner?
Why not 6nd out more about our Vic 20 Software Hire*
Hire fees start at just £2.50 per week, and we offer a
large selection of the best programmes available.
Full details, wnte or phone,
Peek and Poke Software Supplies,
110 Drummond Street , London, NW 1 .
Telephone 01 -380 1213
We also stock Atari 400 800 Software etc
DRAGON ACCOUNTING SYSTEM
includes
* Trial Balance
* P and L Account
* Account Code Enquiry (maximum 300 accounts), etc
Only £4.00
N. VANBRADDER
72 Berry Hill Lane.
Mansfield. Notts
see SPECTRUM OWNERS ***
Why wait tor weeks’ High speed hire service for all the
software you could want All it costs is £ 1 0 life membership
plus £1 .25 per tape (me. P&P)
Now you can TRY the best programs before you BUY
Join today Send £10 for life membership and first FREE
tape to:
SPECTRAL SOFTWARE LIBRARY
1 3 Charlecote Road. Poynton
Stockport. Cheshire SKI 2 1DJ
or send SAE lor full details
WORLD INFO a database of information about the
modern world Use your 48k Spectrum as a reference
book on Heads of State. Wars. Types of Regime, Human
Rights and much more It’s a datafile for use with
Campbell Systems Masterfile. the standard database
system for spectrum £5 Send SAE for more details
PHONES keeps track of your phone bill Times calls,
costs them Good for flat sharers or several people
sharing the same phone
From WIMS0FT (PI). 20 Brookside Road. Wimbome.
Dorset BH21 2BL
STAINLESS SOFTWARE
Software for the Tl 99 4A. Large illustrated
catalogue. Imported & UK programs. 50p
(Refundable on order) to:
STAINLESS SOFTWARE, Dept PCN,
10 Alstone Road. Stockport.
Cheshire SK4 5AH.
84
PCN MAR 25. 1983
MICROSHOP
Maintenance
MICRO-COMPUTER MAINTENANCE
COMMERCIAL DATA SYSTEMS LTD.
APPLE
IBM
SIRIUS
VICTOR
NATIONAL
ON-SITE
24 hr
CONTRACTS
Telephone: 0268-710292 (ask for sales)
COMPUTER PORTRAITS
IN COLOUR OR B 4 W AN INSTANT MONEY MAKER THAT CAN EARN YOU C4.000 C5.300 per month
A m the fifties if someone had suggested you invest m a hamburger stand caked McDonald s or a chicken store run by
onel Sanders you probably would have laughed Most of us (kd The tew who dkJnt and invested are millionaires today
Backet
Colonel Sanders you probably would have laughed Most of us did The lew who dxJnt and invested are imaionaires today
Yesterday however they were |ust budding entrepreneurs looking for a good investment The Inck to investing m your own
business is to keep your eyes open for something that ( 1 ) requires a small investment that can be recouped quickly ( 2) has an
enormous profit margin and (3) has great, growing consumer acceptance
HOTTEST NEW BUSINESS
There « such a buwnees Its cased Computer Portraits and it is one of the honest most profitable new businesses m the world
Oont let the name scare you You don f have to be a computer operator or photographer to operate a machine You don t even
have to operate it yourself — it s the perfect part time owner business
NO SKILI
-TV cameras and instant pictures A high qualify system that is low m price
Its a business that combines today s hottest trends —
portable and requires absolutely no technical eipe
The Kama Computer Portrait System can be set up anywhere — lairs hofcday areas shopping centres _
anywhere with high pedestrian traffic H s an instant traffic stopper that makes a portrait justm seconds The picture is first seen
on a TV screen, men dramatically printed before you r eyes on a computer printout
And there s more You can transfer the portraits - instantly toT Shuts posters calendars puules and other high mark-up
profit items System price from £6.670 to £23.300
Kema Computer Portrait System
The most dynamic business opportunity to come along this year
But don't |ust take our word for 4 Check us out Don t send money |ust write to us for details Before you make an important
decision aboUgomgirto the esckmg new buseiess. know «mo you are buying from We suggest you ask your banker about us
KEMA HANDELS GMBH DEPT PCM18. BEETHOVENSTR 9. 6000 Frankfurt. Germany
Tel: (061 1) 747808. Tele* 412713 Office hour* 10am-6pm
MICRO USER T-SHIRTS
EPSON SHARP SORD
ZX81 SPECTRUM ORIC 1
SIRIUS 1
Available m white, blue and red
MICRO FUN T-SHIRTS
I M USER FRIENDLY
HAVE YOU SEEN MY PERIPHERALS?
Available in white or blue
small, medium, large and x-large sizes
CLUB T-SHIRTS ALSO PRINTED
£3-25 EACH INCLUSIVE
Mail Order only from
ONE PER CENT SCREENS
UNIT 12. STAR LANE INDUSTRIAL ESTATE
GREAT WAKERING. ESSEX
Second User Equipment
HOBBYIST LIMITED
Open 6 days 10am-7pm. Wednesday and Saturdays
5. 30pm.
Authorised Apple Service Centre.
New Apple 1 1 E now in stock, wide range of
peripherals and books including Epson Printers
available
Coming soon the Orlc 1
3 The Broadway, Manor Hall Road,
Southwick, Brighton BN4 4ND
★ ★ ★ SALE ★ ★ ★
NC W EQUIPMENT jt vary ||
OLYMPIA ESlOORO 1 TcpaOaeywtwW
EPSON MXBOTTMk?
ZVM121 Green screen Marwkx
EX DEMONSTRATION EQUIPMENT
TEC FI 0-56 Starwreer SScpe Daisywheel
INSIGHT VDTl T artnnal arrth W P Keytooerd
MCCOMBOMkOO TwaiDwkMcocomputar
OtABLOfMO SScpeDawywhee*
■pmsi
□euelopments
C27S00
CM 00
moo
C440 00
CMS 00
CTOS 00
BERKSHIRE MICROS LTD.
Sord MZZ3 MklU £1 ,900
Osborne 1 . 6 months guarantee £895
Hewlett Packard HP85 £850
Commodore Pet 4032 £375
Sinclair Spectrum (New) £155
Epson FT III (New) £299
Apple 1 1 with disc drives and monitor £990
(0344) 84423
Premises To Let
Avoid damage to your computer or printer by using a Sherborne
Oust Cover large stocks available lor most makes or made to
measure service
Dragon. Atari. Vic 20 — £2.95
BBC, Tl. Epson £3.95
Sharp MZ80 A/K — £4.96
SHERBORNE DESIGNS
Victory House
8A The Rank. North Bradley. Trowbridge Wilts
Tel: 02214 4425
Dealer Enqutnes netcome
D. K. MILLS
TEL: 01 -377 1226
Lenta Properties (Management) Ltd.
69 Cannon Street. London EC1
Software Studios, 3 s c office units
450 640 660 sq. ft. City Border El, £3.25
psf net.
IDEAL FOR START-UPS
01-377 1226
Accessories
Programming the
PET/CBM
The Reference Encyclopedia for
Commodore PET and CBM Users
Comprehensive teaching and reference book
on programming Commodore's 2000, 3000,
4000 and 8000 microcomputers and
peripherals.
Many programs, charts and diagrams. 17
chapters, appendices, and index, iv + 504 page
large-format paperback. ISBN 0 9507650 0 7.
Price in UK and Europe £14.90 each (includes
post and packing). Five or more £12.90 each. 48
hour order turnaround guaranteed.
From dealen and book tellers or direct
Trade Manager, Edward Arnold (Publishers)
Ltd, Woodlands Park Avenue,
MAIDENHEAD, Berks SL3 3LX.
Tel: (062882) 3104
"A masterpiece" — Creative Computing
"Essential 1 ’ — Educational Computing
“Excellent" — Jim Strasma
“Comprehensive & Accurate” — Jim Butterfield
Send orden and make cheque i payable to
Trade Manager, Edward Arnold ( Publishers) Ltd,
Woodlands Park Avenue, MAIDENHEAD,
Berks SL3 3LX
Send copy ics Programming the PETCBM at £14.90
I enclose cheque/PO for £
NAME
ADDRESS
DRAGON 32 or
TANDY TRS-80 Colour?
Lots of programs — lots of useful hints and
information EVERY single month in
“RAINBOW", an exciting new 200-page
magazine from U.S.A.
Send £2.25 (plus large 56p s.a.e.) for
sample issue to
ELKAN ELECTRONICS (Dept. PCN),
FREEPOST,
11 Bury New Road, Prestwich,
Manchester M25 6LZ
or telephone 061 -798 761 3
(24 hour service).
ZX81 & SPECTRUM
HARDWARE
ZX81 Built keyboard with Single key EDIT RUB0UT.
FUNCTION and CURSOR keys 2 shift keys laroe space bar and
new line keys Plugs in. no soldering C29 95
( Oversees C2 poetege)
Many ZX81 and SPECTRUM Add on* Send 20p or SAE lor
catalogue of Hardware Software Best prees around’
NLockyer
33 Pedmore Close. Woodrow South.
Redd itch Worcs. 897 7XB
ORIC 1
CASSETTE LEADS
(with motor control)
Din to Din and Remote Jack
or
Din to Three Jacks
£2.50
CLARES
222 Townfields Road. Winsford. Cheshire CW7 4 AX
Tel: 06065 51374
TEXAS Tl 99 4A
CASSETTE LEADS
No need to pay £1 1 50 for Texas
Leads ours are only
£4.95
including post and packing
Single Recorder only
CLARES
222 Towntields Road. Winsford. Cheshire CW7 4 AX
Tel: 06065 51374
PCN MAR25.1983
85
MICROSHOP I
Appointments
TEXT AT YOUR FINGERTIPS
Just six keys on the remarkable
Microwriter give you the full
alpha numeric character set for
one hand text entry faster than
handwriting and safely stored
in memory. Memory will hold
i ^ ^ five full pages of A4 text which
^ ^ ^ ^ can be recalled to the sixteen
character moving display for
editing, printed on any serial
1 printer, or transmitted to
another machine. Rechargeable
JP batteries give up to forty hours
usage bet ween charges.
The palm sized unit measures
only 9" x 4 . 5" x 2" and weighs
=== lib 1 lozs. It comes complete
MICROWRITER with RS232 serial interface port
for transmission and printer
connection, plus an external cassette lead, mains power
adaptor and soft case. All of the necessary software is
supplied ready loaded on ROM. Everything you need for
data entry and word processing on the move.
We have the Microwriter in stock, basic price £485 plus
VAT. Learn the key depressions from the manual in about
four hours or attend our one day teaching session for £50
plus VAT, refundable against purchase.
TAP MICROS LTD,
30 CURSITOR STREET, LONDON EC4A 1LT
tap
01-4059125
PROGRAMMERS
WANTED
IJK
COMMODORE
COMPUTERS
SOUTHAMPTON
HIRE Commodore equipment by the week, all
including manuals, cassette deck, media etc.
4032 £25, 4040 Disk or 4022 Printer £25
Nearly new equipment with guarantee available
4032 (large screen) £475, 4040 £525, 4022
£295
Sell us your unwanted equipment
COMMODORE 64 £299 place your order lor
March delivery
700 and 500 series computers available May
71 OB 128K, monitor, £995
500P128K, colour, £695
AJt POCM or* cash-and-carry and *«dud* VAT
OFFICIAL COMMODORE DEALER
S uper- V ision
13 St James Road. Shirley. Southampton
Telephone «T03) ”4023
After hours «P03> SVh8X
IJK Software Ltd., a leading name in BBC
Micro software, are expanding their range to
include software for Micros such as the ORIC 1
and LYNX.
We pay top royalties or outright purchase for
software, so don’t just sit there - if you have
written a programme for the BBC Micro,
ORIC 1 or LYNX, and you want to be part of
one of Britain’s leading software houses, then
send you program to us right away for appraisal
in the strictest confidence.
Obviously, machine code arcade games will be
the biggest money earners, but every program
will be considered on its merits.
Our extensive nationwide advertising, together
with national and international mail order
system, dealer networks and distributors will
ensure you get the best possible reward for
your ingenuity. Send t0
The Software Manager
IJK Software Ltd.
9 KING STREET, BLACKPOOL, LANCASHIRE.
TEL: 0253 21555
Insurance
THE ‘BIG’
FREE! D BASE II [..□
still available
phone NOW n
\QSBORNE
ocentres It
' THE ‘BIG* p\
_ FREE! D BASE II □
Ik still available fl
phone NOW Q
kOBBORNEO
B 67551
North Bar. Banbury
fntres ltd o*o« oxi6 otf
SPECIAL
PRINTER
OFFER
CENTRONICS
737-2 PARALLEL
(Brand new, sealed & boxed
u ,tf without warranty)
®* l k215*00
RING AIMGRAM LTD
I Kings Langley (09277) 68211
mcGO-cowura
in/UCADCC
* All risks Cover (mcl Transit) up to £8,000 for
£20
* Increased Cost of Working — to reinstate lost
data
* Breakdown & Derangement — alternative to
maintenance agreement
Comprehensive cover at a
reasonable premium:—
Talk to us before taking a Maintenance Contract
Write with details of equipment and value to —
Geoffrey Hoodless & Associates
Freepost (no stamp required)
Woking. Surrey GU21 4BR
Tel: Woking (04862) 61082 Answering Service
INSURE
YOUR COMPUTER
Impact damage. Fire, Theft A Transit Insurance
for your Computer Equipment:
£1 to £1,500 cover.. £8.00 pa£lO (excess)
£1,500 to £2.500 £1 6.00 pa£l 5 (excess)
£2. 500 to £8 000 £16.00 pa £25 (excess)
£10.000 £20 00 pa £25 (excess)
Ask for details
KGJ Insurance Brokers
6 Hagley Road, Stourbridge
West Midlands DY8 tQG
Tel (03843) 5333 2545
86
PCN MAR25.1983
Appointments
CONTRACTORS
Whose pocket are you lining?
It may be the ‘norm* for someone to charge 40% on top of your pay. But
there is now simply no necessity for you to be denied all of this potential
additional income.
The National Computer Contract Directory is now working and both
contractors and subscribers are deriving major benefits:
FOR CONTRACTORS
1 . Substantial increases in income.
2. Far wider choice of assignments
3. Service completely free of charge!
FOR SUBSCRIBERS
1 . Positive reduction in costs.
2. Access to a large central source
of people AND information.
3. Total cost of approximately
£1 per day!
Bringing contractors and computer users into direct contact, in a major and
practical way, is the service the industry has been asking for. The National
Computer Contract Directory fulfils this need and is becoming the stan-
dard tool for anyone whose job it is to resource a project .
Subscribers to date include BANKING. INSURANCE. MANUFAC
TURING. FINANCIAL. SOFTWARE HOUSES. ELECTRONIC.
GOVERNMENT. COMPUTER MANUFACTURING. TELECOMMUNI
CATIONS. AUTOMOTIVE. PETROCHEMICAL.. RETAIL ETC
FOR CONTRACTORS: Increases in income have varied from £52
to £123 per week.
FOR SUBSCRIBERS: Savings in costs have varied from £50 to
£370 per week!
NATIONAL
COMPUTER
CONTRACT
DIRECTORY
wuitmwAt iii>
• It •Hi'#. MM I \bridgr
■ ■*—»»»!
The National Computer Contract Directory
uses technology to provide information at a
realistic cost and ensures that all of the
reward is paid to the achiever.
Your entry will remain permanently in the
directory. All you have to do is complete this
form. It costs you nothing and gives you
access to substantial increases in income and
a wider choice of contracts.
DIRECTORY j
ENTRY DETAILS
THE DIRECT ALTERNATIVE
Th* section « not tor publication (Contact detarts are not retoaseO without prior consent)
NO OF YEARS EXPERIENCE
PREFERRED UK WORK LOCATIONS
WILL Y OU CONSIDER WORKING ABROAD 7
WHEN WILL YOU BE ABLE TO START YOUR NEXT CONTRACT >
NO OF YRS | CATEGORY PREFERRED
ANALYST PROGRAMMER
SYSTEMS PROGRAMMER
CONSULTANT PROJECT MANAGER
FURTHER INFORMATION: programme rs are advised to describe the depth o» their programmin', i xpehieni i and anai vsts should ust those arfas or systems anai ysis in
(NOT MORI THAN 50 WORDS I WHICH TH|Y ARf EXPERIENCED I I FEASIBILITY STUDIES SYSTEM DESIGN PROJECT HE SPONMBM IT > USER iNVOt VEMtNT MANAGEMENT EXPERIENCE ETC IN AOOlTlON
YOU SH0U10 MENTION ANY SPECIALIST EXPERIENCE YOU FEEL IS RELEVANT TO THE CURRENT MARM TPIACE
PLEASE RETURN TO: WILLOWAY LTD (THE NATIONAL COMPUTER CONTRACT DIRECTORY)
FREEPOST LONDON W5 2BR.
PIN MAR 25. 1983
87
Appointments
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88
PCN MAR 25. 1983
YES IS OUR STOCK ANSWER -
*BBC & ACORNSOFT SOFTWARE * BBC BUGGY * DISC DRIVES
* PRINTERS * JOYSTICKS * MONITORS * BOOKS AND MANUALS
* GAMES AND PUZZLES * SERVICE * ADVICE
BEST FOR USERS
Acorn and BBC users will find everything they want
-and we mean everything-at our Nottingham retail store.
For instance we have just been appointed distributors of
the BBC Buggy, the clever little mobile featured in the
television series “Making the Most of Your Micro" and
BBC software. Don’t worry if you can't get to Nottingham.
Just send us a SAE and we will send you a list of dealers,
and details of our mail order stock.
NEW! 200K DISK DRIVES
Upgrade your BBC Micro with our new 200K dual
disk drive. Designed to fill the gap between the Acorn
100K and 800K disc drives, our 200K unit has already
won rave reviews and it’s ready now. It costs £389.00 plus
£110.25 for the operating system. To order fill in the
coupon below.
^bTl-easalmk Viewdata Ltd Scientific House. Bridge Street. Sandiacre. Nottingham NG10 5B^™|
I Please send me
| 200K Dual Disc Drives) @ £389.0) (me VAT)
| Operating System(s) @ £110.25 One VAT) Current Price List Only* FREE
I I enclose a Cheque For: £ Please Debit My Access/ Barclaycard Amex
I No ■■■■■■■■■ . . . . .
I Name J
| Address:
Postcode: Day time Tel No:
•Please enclose s.a.e. Allow 28 days for delivery.
BEST FOR DEALERS
As Acorn’s only official distributors we can supply
anything you want, as soon as you want it.
Ordering Acorn and BBC products through us
means quick and efficient service. We are prompt, reliable
and offer excellent service back-up.
You will like our credit terms as well.
We can get you any Acorn or BBC product without
fuss and by using the official distribution channel you can
be sure of a completely safe delivery service.
If you are thinking about
becoming an Acorn/BBC i ust been ^ .
dea ler ta I k to us now. r,but ° r f or bbc Softool? UK
the BBC ~ RWare anH
* ar e and
COMING SOON — ‘E’ DAY!
Yes it’s almost here, the Acorn Electron, the
microcomputer the whole industry’s talking about.
If you are an Acorn/BBC dealer then you will want to
be the first when the Electron is launched.
Through us you will guarantee enough Electrons to
keep your customers fully satisfied from day one-and
keep you one step ahead of your competitors.
Leasalink Viewdata Software are the sole distributors for
the Logical program shown on BBC TV as well as
Spreadsheet.
Q2
LEAttUNKTlEWIHEt
m m limited m m
Scientific House, Bridge Street, Sandiacre, Nottingham
NG10 5BA Tel: 0602 394000
COMMODORE 64 and 8000
alcResuli
Professional spread sheet at a breakthrough price.
Spread sheet programs have been available for a number of years. The knowledge and experience
gained through the use of these led to a demand for a tool that is easier to use, easier to
understand and more powerful than contemporaries. The result is Calc Result a powerful yet
low cost '3D' spread sheet for the Commodore 8000 and 64.
* 3D format
* Up to 32 pages
* Horizontal and vertical page split
* Window facilities
* Powerful editing facilities
* "What if ... "
* "if . . . then . . . else"
* Full graphics output
* Miserly use of memory
* 'Help' functions
* Multi user capabilities and hard disk support
Machine capability
CalcResult is currently available only on Commo-
dore Business machines as follows
8032 and 8096 computers — including the SK series
— on 8250 or 8050 disk units . It can also be used in
multi-user situations and with Commodore 9060 and
9090 hara disks.
Commodore 64 — a single disk version for the 1541
disk unit.
Price
For 8000 series £1 49 (plus VAT)
For Commodore 64 £94 (plus VAT)
Micro Marketing
PO Box 28
Henley-on-Thames
Oxon. RG9 1 PF
Telephone
04912 2512
Dealer enquiries welcome
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